Voluntary Collective Isolation as a Best Response to COVID-19 for Indigenous Populations? A Case Study and Protocol from the Bolivian Amazon

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-15-2020

Abstract

Indigenous communities worldwide share common features that make them especially vulnerable to the complications of and mortality from COVID-19. They also possess resilient attributes that can be leveraged to promote prevention efforts. How can indigenous communities best mitigate potential devastating effects of COVID-19? In Bolivia, where nearly half of all citizens claim indigenous origins, no specific guidelines have been outlined for indigenous communities inhabiting native communal territories. In this Public Health article, we describe collaborative efforts, as anthropologists, physicians, tribal leaders, and local officials, to develop and implement a multiphase COVID-19 prevention and containment plan focused on voluntary collective isolation and contact-tracing among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists in the Bolivian Amazon. Phase 1 involves education, outreach, and preparation, and phase 2 focuses on containment, patient management, and quarantine. Features of this plan might be exported and adapted to local circumstances elsewhere to prevent widespread mortality in indigenous communities.

Comments

This article was originally published in The Lancet, volume 395, in 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31104-1

This scholarship is part of the Chapman University COVID-19 Archives.

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

Elsevier

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