SEATTLE, Washington Latin America has a history of not extending basic services to the indigenous communities that many countries have pushed to the fringes. To this day, indigenous communities lack access to essential services, especially healthcare. The reasons behind this absence vary from the notion that indigenous communities wish to remain distanced from modern societies to systemic issues of racism and prejudice against indigenous peoples.
Barriers to Healthcare
In 2015, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean found that infant mortality was 60% greater in indigenous groups than non-indigenous groups. According to the advocacy group Minority Rights Group International, discrimination is the biggest barrier for indigenous groups in Latin America to access healthcare services.
Thailand has picked up several accolades for favourable credit, investment worthiness and the strength of its public health sector, says government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.
POLICY
Two Takes on a Pandemic
Every nation has had its own experience of COVID-19. The stories of Denmark,
a model of socialized care, and Rwanda, a bright spot among developing
nations, both hold wider lessons for the world. by Linda Keslar //
Art by Image 1: Simon Wohlfahrt/Getty Images; Image 2: Claus Bjoern Larsen/Associated Press
IN SPRING 2020, WHEN the COVID-19 pandemic was first raging through sub-Saharan Africa, Hassan Nsabimana was among countless truck drivers who continued to work transporting essential cargo to Rwanda from neighboring countries. In a phone conversation last May from Tanzania, Nsabimana told his eldest son, Faycal Hassan Tuyishime, that he wasn’t feeling well and was heading home. “In his voice, you could tell he was critically ill,” Tuyishime says.