Strategy and Plan of Action on Ethnicity and Health 2019–2025. Impact and Process Indicators

The purpose of this publication is to provide continuity to the technical cooperation with Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in estimating and monitoring the targets and indicators proposed by the Strategy and Plan of Action on Ethnicity and Health 2019–2025 in the different countries and territories; and to measure the processes and impact derived from implementing the guidelines contained in the Policy on Ethnicity and Health. The compendium and technical sheets that make up this publication are aimed in particular at cooperating partners and those in the health sector and other sectors that provide support for intercultural action in health. This mainly involves the Ministries of Health of the countries and territories, along with other government ministries and institutions, together with the support of key associates and cooperating partners. The design of this technical tool, in line with the Policy on Ethnicity and Health, was guided by the basic objective of calculating and recording the progress to be achieved in the Region of the Americas between 2019 and 2025 in developing the measures necessary to guarantee an intercultural approach to access health care and services. It has taken into account the social determinants of health from a standpoint of equality and mutual respect, valuing the cultural practices of the Region’s ethnic groups, including their lifestyles, social organization, value systems, traditions, and worldviews.

Tool for Promoting Culturally Safe Childbirth: Basic Manual

This manual and its Excel tool are under revision. The revised edition will be published soon.

Methodology of Knowledge Dialogues. Facilitator’s Manual

Knowledge dialogues, also called intercultural dialogues, are processes of communication and exchange between people, groups or communities that come from different origins or cultures. In the case of the health sector, exchanges take place between certain groups or individuals and trained health personnel. Its objective is, among others, to improve access to health services and build intercultural health, with an emphasis on solving previously raised problems and their causes, mutual understanding and the creation of solid links. This publication is aimed at health personnel or from other areas and sectors that will facilitate knowledge dialogues. These are people designated to catalyze the processes related to said dialogues, which constitute a necessity in the process of communication with diverse population groups that present problems of universal access to health and universal health coverage.

The Knowledge Dialogues Methodology

Knowledge dialogues, also called intercultural dialogues, are processes of communication and exchange between people, groups or communities that come from different backgrounds or cultures. In the case of the health sector, exchanges take place between certain groups or individuals and trained health personnel. Its objective is, among others, to improve access to health services and build intercultural health, with emphasis on solving previously raised problems and their causes, mutual understanding and the creation of solid links. This publication, which contains the methodology applicable to this field, is aimed at health personnel or other areas and sectors in order to contribute to the search for ways to know, share and build healthy practices. The groups considered in this case are the indigenous and Roma populations, and the Afro-descendants, although strictly speaking the methodology can be applied to working with any group (migrants, displaced persons, adolescents, the elderly, etc.) that presents problems of universal access to health and universal health coverage.

Guidance for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control in Indigenous Populations in the Region of the Americas

Tuberculosis continues to represent a severe public health problem in the Region of the Americas, even more so in the case of indigenous peoples, whose TB incidence is much higher than that of the general population. To achieve tuberculosis control in these communities, it is necessary to respond to communities’ diverse needs from an intercultural perspective that allows the application of a holistic approach—from a standpoint of equality and mutual respect—and considers the value of their cultural practices. In the Region of the Americas, although there has been progress toward recognizing the need for an intercultural approach to health services, obstacles rooted in discrimination, racism, and the exclusion of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups persist. To respond to this situation, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) prepared this guidance which––based on an intercultural approach in accordance with the priority lines of the current PAHO Policy on Ethnicity and Health and its practical development in the Region’s indigenous populations––represent a support tool for implementing the End TB Strategy. This publication integrates PAHO’s accumulated experience and best practices developed by its Member States in recent years, including discussions and experiences shared in regional meetings on the issue, and emphasizes innovation and social inclusion. This requires an urgent shift away from traditional paradigms, taking specific actions that gradually reduce TB incidence and moving toward effective multisectoral actions that have proven effective in quickly containing the epidemic.