VULNERABILITY AND SELF-ORGANIZATION STRATEGIES OF QUILOMBOLA COMMUNITIES IN PARÁ FACING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Pandemic, Quilombola population, Vulnerability.
INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic of Covid-19 in March 2020. The process of internalization of this disease in the Amazon happened quickly, reaching municipalities with poor infrastructure and scarce health resources. Since then, on the national scene, the quilombola communities in Pará are among those who suffer the most impacts from the pandemic. Without state support to monitor and control the disease in their territories, these communities have undertaken their own organizational strategies to minimize the effects of the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the vulnerabilities of quilombola communities in Pará in the Covid-19 pandemic and the self-organization strategies used to confront the disease at the state and local scales (Santarém and Oriximiná, in the Lower Amazon). METHODS: Research with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including: field research, documentary research, action research, and participant observation in an exploratory and descriptive investigation, with a cross-sectional cut. Semi-structured interviews conducted with quilombola leaders from different territories and organizations. Questionnaires applied to the residents. Participation in health care activities as part of the action research process. Participant observation in events central to health issues in the municipality of Santarém. Statistical analysis of Covid-19 epidemiological data and socioeconomic data of the quilombola communities of Alto Trombetas in Oriximiná. CONTRIBUTIONS: The results may indicate that the vulnerability experienced by the quilombola population is a reflection of the chronic absence of public health policies aimed at this social group, which was exacerbated with the Covid-19 pandemic.