title: Oil development and health in the Amazon basin of Ecuador: the popular epidemiology process.
abstract: Recent decades have witnessed an increasing corporate access to and control over natural resources resulting in environmental degradation, inequalities and ill health. Since 1972, oil companies have extracted more than two billion barrels of crude oil from the Ecuadorian Amazon. During this process, millions of gallons of untreated toxic wastes, gas and oil have been released into the environment. Indigenous federations, peasant's movements and environmental groups have claimed that contamination has caused widespread damage to both people and the environment. This article tells the story of how the relationship between local organisations and research institutions developed around an epidemiological study constructed to address communities' concerns. Local organisations set the agenda of the research: they were involved in the hypothesis formulation, consulted in each step during the study and responsible of the dissemination of the findings. This process is known as popular epidemiology. Practical and personal issues and dilemmas faced during the research process are discussed with emphasis on the communication and dissemination of the findings. The article concludes the need of alliances between communities and researchers in order to protect health and environment. Popular epidemiology is an essential approach for public health researchers to reaffirm their roots in improving public health as a primary value.
authors.affiliation: Umeå International School of Public Health, Epidemiology and Public Health Sciences, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 90185, SE Umeå, Sweden. miguel.sansebastian@epiph.umu.se
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: San Sebastián
authors.forename: Anna Karin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hurtig
mesh_terms: D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004484:Ecuador; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D019652:Extraction and Processing Industry; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D010578:Petroleum; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
chemical_list: D010578:Petroleum