Cristina Haydée 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.