addressing veCtor borne diseases in traditional Communities in Colombia. proposing Capabilities to aChieve sustainable prevention through reCognition and improvement of women health takers roles

Resumen

Vector Borne Diseases are a recurrent public health problem, especially in
developing tropical countries where they restrict the normal development of both
individuals and communities. Traditional control measures of these diseases are
limited, which make necessary their synergy with more acute health
interventions. This paper proposes the transformation of factors recognized
generally as contextual vulnerabilities into enhancers of social changes by means
of their articulation within the framework of the Capability Approach. The
intention is to lead the vulnerable subjects towards the development of
capabilities and the empowerment of communities, aiming to reduce the
transmission of Vector Borne Diseases in a sustainable way, mainly in what is perceived as disadvantaged populations. The Capability Approach defined as an
overcoming of functional vulnerabilities, constitutes an opportunity to enhance
people’s agency by enlarging their freedom to choose a healthy lifestyle, lead by
fostering a process of self-recognition and empowerment.
The main hypothesis is that once individuals reach an awareness level about their
own health needs, they can interact with the different actors involved in
healthcare programs, as providers and authorities, giving place to a Shared
Governance process, rather than a passive obedience or compliance to external
rules. Our second hypothesis is that we have to be aware of an unrecognized
agency of women in the communities health decisions, which will lead us to
develop a participatory process to improve women’s inclusion as health agents of
the community by sharing new skills and prevention information and practices,
which will as a consequence have a gender recognition leadership effect in their
community, and for future generations of women’s social roles.