[Ethnic equity in accessing health services in Bogotá, Colombia, 2007].

OBJECTIVE

Identifying inequalities in gaining access to health services resulting from ethnicity in Bogota.

METHODS

39 in-depth interviews with focus groups and six members of ethnic groups were conducted during 2007. Qualitative findings were contrasted with the results from statistically processing data from the Quality of Life Survey 2003 and characterising the Primary Health Care strategy called 'Health in your Home in Bogota', discriminating the following variables: demographic, socio-economic, needs, access and health outcomes.

RESULTS

The following ethnic groups were characterised: indigenous people, black people, gypsies and islanders. Differences in socioeconomic status, education, employment, access to health insurance, use of health services and outcomes were documented as these were considered to be inequities related to the following determinants: ethnic and racial discrimination, differences in social, economic and political status and violation of rights, interactions between immigration, acculturation and assimilation and differentials exposure.

CONCLUSIONS

There are ethnic inequities in gaining access to health services because there is no adequate access as required; there is violation of rights, discrimination, a lack of adaptation and appreciation of differences. These situations are considered to be examples of cultural and distributive injustice. Ethnicity determines levels of social vulnerability and takes specific forms regarding life, health and disease, thereby becoming a structural determinant of studying ethnic-equity in gaining access to health services.