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A Public Health Program Oriented to Highly Mobile Indigenous Populations
Pablo Ortiz-Roses, MD, CCSS, Costa Rica
The initiative aims to ensure the enjoyment of human rights by an indigenous population known as the Ngobe-Bugle, who originate in the Comarca region of Panama. This population crosses the border to the county of Coto Brus, Costa Rica, to participate in the annual coffee bean harvest. They suffer from extremely poor health conditions, social and cultural exclusion, poor economic resources and lack of access to education. These conditions, combined with their status as an ethnic minority and migrants, leave them vulnerable to sexual and economic exploitation, among other discriminatory practices. This work as providers of health services reflects recognition that health is an absolute integral phenomenon, beginning from the WHO definition of health. No one can say that an individual or group of individuals enjoys good health, despite a good physical state, when they are severely limited in their access to good nutrition, potable water, appropriate waste disposal, decent work, good education, sexual freedoms, and in general, all that is required to dignify living conditions for any community.
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