Indigenous policy and health: the perspective of the management of the Special Indigenous Sanitary District

O OLHAR DA GESTÃO DO DISTRITO ESPECIAL SANITÁRIO INDÍGENA

Abstract

This article is the result of extension projects; extension interface with the search; scientific initiation at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) campus Governador Valadares (GV), in Minas Gerais (MG), developed by the Transdisciplinary Nucleus in Indigenous Studies (NUTEI), in the period 2014-2020. This work aimed at reflecting about concepts of “indigenist policy” and “indigenous health” of the managers of the Special Indigenous Sanitary District (DSEI), MG and Espírito Santo (ES), headquartered in GV. A qualitative approach and open interviews with these managers were used. The testimonies revealed that most managers know the category “indigenist policy”, and use various definitions of “health” to refer to “indigenous health”. However, for the materialization of this policy in the DSEI, it is necessary to break with ethnocentric practices, recognition and respect for the issues of indigenous peoples. Thus, there will be the construction and expansion of spaces for dialogue, aiming at the realization of the right.