Carmen Marina Arrom Suhurt

Hacia una vivienda indígena que limite la infestación doméstica por Triatoma infestans

Introduction: The Paraguayan State has a pending debt with indigenous people regarding public policies to combat extreme poverty, in addition to serious health problems, such as Chagas disease with Triatoma infestans as its vector. Objective: To determine the characteristics of an improved dwelling that limits the domestic infestation by Triatoma infestans from the indigenous perspective. Methodology: A descriptive study with a quantitative and qualitative approach was conducted. The instruments of data collection were: household survey, focus groups, and in-depth interviews with key actors. Results: Household heads of 270 dwelling were surveyed, of which 85% (230) had nonresistant or solid or waste materials in at least one of the components or at all. 86.3% (233) of the heads of household indicated that they wanted to improve them, and the lack of sufficient income for the household could be considered the main limitation. Conclusions: When projecting graphically the ideal or improved housing, from their perspective, the studied indigenous families showed that the housing of the Mennonites and the so-called Paraguayans (non-indigenous Paraguayan population inhabiting the same area) gathered the physical characteristics that set the boundaries to limit the accommodation of the vector, and were adequate for the environment.

Población escolarizada de estudiantes con intento de suicidio

Depression is the leading cause of morbidity and disability among adolescents and suicide is the third cause of death in the world. To describe characteristics of a population of school adolescents with suicide attempt. Cross-sectional descriptive and retrospective study with probabilistic sampling. Data base of adolescents from 56 public and private schools. Three-staged probabilistic sampling. A self-administered structured and anonymous questionnaire was applied with previous authorization. To know their level of satisfaction with aspects of their lives, the Plan of Action on Health and Development of Adolescents and Youth in the Americas of WHO/PAHO was used. The information was loaded in Excel and analyzed by SPSS. Total population (661), 16.6% (110) stated that they tried to kill themselves, 46.4% (51) were men and 53.6% (59) women. 20.2% (22) of the students were between 12 and 14 years old, 61.7% (68) between 15 and 17, 17.2% (19) were 18 years old or more. 59.1% (54) were in Middle School and 50% (55) in High School. 51.8% (68) were in public schools and 30.9% (34) in private ones. 67.3% (74) lived with their parents, 23.6% (26) worked at the time of the study and 39.1% (43) had a relative with suicide attempt. 11.8% (13) referred that they suffered sexual abuse 38.2% (42) the first time they were asked and 38.2% when the question was repeated. 19.1% (21) ever consulted for emotional problems. There’s a significant correlation between having suffered sexual abuse and suicide attempt (p=0,000). Severe situations of mental health disorders were evidenced without being detected institutionally as an opportunity to intervene and avoid adolescent deaths.