Trabalho de integrantes do LEBIOS aceito e publicado no XX Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Antropología Física

O trabalho de integrantes do Lebios, Profa. Dra. Ariana da Silva e Prof. Dr. Hilton P Silva, intitulado "Sickle Cell Disease, genetic ancestry, and the fight against racism in the Brazilian Amazon" foi aceito no XX CONGRESO DE LA SOCIEDAD ESPAÑOLA DE ANTROPOLOGÍA FÍSICA, que ocorreu em Barcelona/Espanha, em Julho de 2017. O trabalho foi publicado na sessão sobre Ecologia Humana e Biodemografia. O resumo segue abaixo:

XX CONGRESO DE LA SOCIEDAD ESPAÑOLA DE ANTROPOLOGÍA FÍSICA

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Ecología humana y Biodemografía

"Sickle Cell Disease, Genetic Ancestry, and the Fight Against Racism in the Brazilian Amazon"

Silva, Ariana K L S 1; Silva, Hilton P 2

1 Graduate Program in Anthropology, Universidade Federal do Pará, Laboratório de Antropolo­gia “Arthur Napoleão Figueiredo” – Cidade Universitária “José da Silveira Netto” – Rua Au­gusto Correa, 01 – Campus Universitário do Guamá – ZIP: 66075-900 – Belém – Pará – Brazil.

E-mail: arianabelem@gmail.com   

2 Graduate Program in Anthropology and Graduate Program in Public Health, Universidade Federal do Pará, Laboratory of Bioanthropological Studies in Health and the Environment, Ci­dade Universitária “José da Silveira Netto” – Rua Augusto Correa, 01 – Campus Universitário do Guamá – ZIP: 66075-900 – Belém – Pará – Brazil -

E-mail: hdasilva@ufpa.br   

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic syndrome with significant prevalence among the Brazilian population, occurring in about 3.500 children per year. In Pará State, Amazon Region of Brazil, about 1% of individuals live with SCD. This represents a serious public health problem in the country [1,2,3]. SCD is problematized here from a biocultural perspective within the field of Bioanthropology [4,5]. In the Regional Blood Center, located in Belém, interviews, and blood samples of indi­viduals affected with SCD were collected for Genetic Ancestry (GA) tests (Auto­somal DNA). 60 individuals with SCD were investigated in relation to their GA, socioeconomic status, race/color, and clinical symptoms. The genetic results were presented and discussed with each participant. The majority of individuals pres­ent predominantly European aDNA (40.9%), followed by Amerindian (30.2%), and African (28.8%). Nevertheless, 83% of the participants classify themselves as “brown” or “black”. The majority of them indicate having suffered some form of racism along their lives as a consequence of SCD and their skin color, including discrimination in the health services facilities. Among the individuals, 66% live in poverty, and only 15% have some type of private health insurance, which limits their access to essential medical care. The clinical severity of the disease is being investigated for possible association with GA. SCD involves several vulnerabilities such as poverty, clinical complications, and racial prejudice. The GA test might be a useful tool for education as there is considerable misinformation about SCD, still associated exclusively to African populations. Thus, this may be yet another tool in the fight against racism. The GA test might also point out new therapeutic ways when considering the individualized information. This research willt help improve the quality of life, and generate useful health information for the development of specific public policies to those affected by SCD.

References

[1] Cardoso, G. L. & Guerreiro, J. F. 2010. Molecular characterization of sickle cell ane­mia in the Northern Brazilian State of Pará. American Journal of Human Biology, (22): 573-577.

[2] Naoum, P. C. 2010. Origem e dispersão do gene bS: hipótese multi-regional da he­moglobina S. Disponível em: http://hemoglobinopatias.com.br/origem-e-dispersao-do-gene-bs/. Acesso em: 03.Jan.2017.

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Ecología humana y Biodemografía

[3] _____. 2011. Sickle cell disease: from the beginning until it was recognized as a public health disease. Revista Brasileira de Hematologia e Hemoterapia 33(1): 07-09.

[4] Silva, A. K. & Silva, H. P. 2013. Anemia Falciforme como experiência: as relações entre vulnerabilidade social e corpo doente enquanto fenômeno biocultural no Estado do Pará. Amazônica, Revista de Antropologia (Online) 5(1): 10-36.

[5] Silva, A. K. 2015. O contexto epidemiológico e biossocial da doença falciforme no Estado do Pará, Amazônia, Brasil. Revista da ABPN, (7)16: 103-127.

Link do evento: 

http://www.seafbcn2017.com/

Anais do Congresso:

http://www.seafbcn2017.com/images/seafbcn/librodeabstractseaf17.pdf