After the pressure exerted by indigenous and civil society organizations, the peruvian Ministry of Health restored its Directorate of Indigenous Issues. The Supreme Decree No. 011-2017-SA, published on tuesday, reinstates this entity as an organic unit of the Ministry of Health, responsible for formulating interventions and policies in favor of the health of indigenous peoples.

CHIRAPAQ welcomes this decision, which contributes to guaranteeing the right to health of indigenous peoples, who are among the sectors of the population in situations of special vulnerability. We hope that this decision will help develop public health policies with a participatory and intercultural approach.

The decision is a result of the citizen mobilisation and action undertaken by  indigenous organizations. This efforts include a letter addressed to peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski by Tarcila Rivera Zea, CHIRAPAQ’s president and member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, indigenous peoples have the right to participate actively in the development of health programs, access health services without discrimination, practice their own traditional medicine and maintain their health practices and Care, including the conservation of their medicinal plants.