Abstract

MUNOZ MARTINEZ, Rubén. HIV among the Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico: From Ethnic Immunity to Structural Vulnerability. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2022, vol.67, n.245, pp.197-229.  Epub Apr 21, 2023. ISSN 0185-1918.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2022.245.71834.

There are currently no official figures for the impact of HIV among the indigenous peoples of Mexico; and there are very few studies about it due to the exclusion that results -from certain dominant ideologies- refusing to explore and address this issue and its specificities. That is why, through ethnographic research and quantitative analysis of epidemiological data in Oaxaca, the Mexican state that has the most speakers of indigenous languages, this study documents and analyzes: a) disaggregated quantitative data on the prevalence of HIV and the rate of AIDS mortality by ethnic group; b) socio-cultural processes that lead to inequities in the prevention, detection and treatment of HIV and the AIDS mortality of this population compared to the non-indigenous one, and c) individual and collective strategies to take down the barriers hindering access to and continuation of treatment. Immunity guidelines and ethnic immunity are proposed as a theoretical-conceptual axis for the narratives and practices that are dominant in epidemiology, academia, and civil society regarding this issue, based on the acknowledgement of ethnicity as a protective factor vis-à-vis HIV.

Keywords : HIV; AIDS; indigenous peoples; ethnic immunity; structural vulnerability.

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