Silences, ethnicities, and HIV: making visible some problems in the incidence and prevalence of the epidemic among the indigenous peoples from Latin America

Abstract

We present the results of an investigation whose general aim was to describe and analyze the situation of epidemiological HIV prevalence, prevention and medical treatment for indigenous peoples in Latin America. For that purpose, we reviewed a total of 304 materials from 16 countries of Latin America. This article analyzes some of the reasons why the HIV epidemic impact within indigenous peoples of Latin America is not visible, and presents the situation of 9 countries belonging to the region in which there is evidence on the HIV prevalence/incidence among this populations. The limited quantitative and qualitative material existing at present, highlight multilevel determinants that must be studied in detail taking into account, as a main exploratory line, the differential vulnerability associated with ethnicity.