Sanitary and health conditions at Caiana dos Crioulos, a quilombo community in the State of Paraíba

Abstract

This work aimed to present the conditions of sanitation and human health at Caiana dos Crioulos, accredited in May 2005 by the Fundação Cultural Palmares as a remnant community of 'quilombos', to carry out a survey on the knowledge level that black people have on prevalent diseases in the African ancestry population, as well as to discuss the variable 'race' in health research. The community is formed by 522 persons, most of them are infants and adolescents, mostly of African ancestry, where 93% of them self-proclaim as black, negro, or 'moreno' (dark-complexioned person). They are supported basically by subsistence agriculture. Despite non-existent proper sanitary conditions in the village of Caiana dos Crioulos, like clean running water for human consumption and treated sewage, neither water-borne diseases nor serious injuries to human health were observed in the human population. The most noteworthy health problems and injuries observed in the population were the consumption of alcohol, hypertension, and mental disorders. Local people have just a vague idea of such problems but they ignore basic information of prevalent diseases and injuries in black population like sickle cell anemia and hypertension.