Social, demographic, and health policies history of indigenous peoples from the state of Acre, Brazil

Abstract

The historical trajectory experienced by Brazilian Amerindians population lead to a complex social issues, which are expressed by a lack of health service access and socioeconomic disparities. Such reality is translated into a higher level of poverty, lower education level and worse health profile, as compared to non-indigenous counterparts. The current health policies for indigenous population in Brazil could not overcome the lack of specialized care access. thus, fragmented and unplanned health care still persist, with distortions in the process of social control. Therefore, increased morbidity and mortality rates, unequal health care access, lack of continuity of care, and administrative barriers are still frequent among Brazilian Amerindians. The indigenous peoples from the State of Acre, located in the Western Brazilian Amazon, reflects the situation of greater vulnerability among all the indigenous populations from the North Region of Brazil, sharing worse health outcomes as compared to the rest of the country. Thus, the purpose of this narrative review is to characterize the history of the Indian population in Brazil and the State of Acre, according to demographic, epidemiological and health policies.