title: Healthcare access and health beliefs of the indigenous peoples in remote Amazonian Peru.
abstract: Little is published about the health issues of traditional communities in the remote Peruvian Amazon. This study assessed healthcare access, health perceptions, and beliefs of the indigenous population along the Ampiyacu and Yaguasyacu rivers in north-eastern Peru. One hundred and seventy-nine adult inhabitants of 10 remote settlements attending health clinics were interviewed during a medical services trip in April 2012. Demographics, health status, access to healthcare, health education, sanitation, alcohol use, and smoke exposure were recorded. Our findings indicate that poverty, household overcrowding, and poor sanitation remain commonplace in this group. Furthermore, there are poor levels of health education and on-going barriers to accessing healthcare. Healthcare access and health education remain poor in the remote Peruvian Amazon. This combined with poverty and its sequelae render this population vulnerable to disease.
authors.affiliation: Christ Church, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Project Amazonas, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; The Honors College, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Charlotte K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Brierley
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.forename: Gitanjli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Devon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007199:Indians, South American; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D010568:Peru; D044382:Population Groups; D011203:Poverty; D012499:Sanitation; D012907:Smoking; D055815:Young Adult