Health situation facing COVID-19 in vulnerable indigenous communities of Pichincha, Ecuador. Systemic review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the Kitu Kara indigenous communities of Pichincha, Ecuador. This disease, which mainly affects the lungs but can also damage other organs, has had negative consequences in these communities. The objective of this study was to investigate the situation of education and prevention of COVID-19 in these vulnerable communities. To carry out the research, an exhaustive search for information was conducted in Google, as well as in databases such as SciELO, PubMed, LILACS and various repositories. The information selected followed the criteria established by the PRISMA flowchart, including documents from the period 2020-2022, such as original articles, systematic reviews, case studies and editorials. Forty documents were identified that addressed the situation of indigenous peoples in the face of the pandemic. The results obtained revealed that the pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of these populations, who not only face precarious living conditions, but are also more susceptible to the impacts of crises. It was concluded that, in most aspects, the situation of indigenous peoples is considerably worse than that of other people with similar characteristics, such as educational level, age, geographic location (rural or urban), type of work and family structure. This suggests the existence of barriers that affect them in a differentiated and excluding manner, as they are a vulnerable group due to lack of information and education, which has led to an increase in COVID-19 cases due to lack of knowledge in these indigenous communities