{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]],"date-time":"2026-03-29T05:56:14Z","timestamp":1774763774783,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,6]],"date-time":"2023-03-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1678060800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Colombian program to end trachoma implements the component F of the SAFE strategy in the Vaup\u00e9s department of the Amazon rainforest. Cultural, linguistic, and geographical barriers and the coexistence of an ancestral medical system demand the technical and sociocultural adaptation of this component. A cross-sectional survey combined with focus-group discussions to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the indigenous population related to trachoma was conducted in 2015. Of the 357 heads of households that participated, 45.1% associated trachoma with a lack of hygiene, and 94.7% associated the concept of hygiene with taking one or more body baths per day, using commercial or handcrafted soap. In total, 93% reported cleaning their children\u2019s faces and eyes more often when they have conjunctivitis, but 66.1% also did this with clothes or towels in use, and 52.7% of people shared towels; in total, 32.8% indicated that they would use ancestral medicine to prevent and treat trachoma. The SAFE strategy in Vaup\u00e9s requires an intercultural approach to facilitate stakeholder support and participation to promote general and facial hygiene, washing clothes with soap, and not sharing towels and clothes to dry and clean children\u2019s faces for effective and sustainable elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. This qualitative assessment facilitated an intercultural approach locally and in other Amazonian locations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph20054632","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,6]],"date-time":"2023-03-06T03:49:08Z","timestamp":1678074548000},"page":"4632","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Hygiene and the Prevention of Trachoma in the Indigenous Population of the Colombian Amazon Vaup\u00e9s Department"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0739-5781","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juli\u00e1n","family":"Trujillo-Trujillo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Bogot\u00e1 110311, Colombia"},{"name":"Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud\u2014ECISA, Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, UNAD, Bogot\u00e1 111511, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8179-3337","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00f3nica","family":"Meza-C\u00e1rdenas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Bogot\u00e1 110311, Colombia"},{"name":"Grupo de Medicina Comunitaria y Salud Colectiva, Maestr\u00eda en Epidemiolog\u00eda, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad El Bosque, Bogot\u00e1 110111, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sol","family":"S\u00e1nchez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Bogot\u00e1 110311, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Zamora","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ministry of Health and Social Protection, Bogot\u00e1 110311, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Porras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grupo de Medicina Comunitaria y Salud Colectiva, Maestr\u00eda en Epidemiolog\u00eda, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad El Bosque, Bogot\u00e1 110111, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Clara","family":"L\u00f3pez de Mesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela Superior de Oftalmolog\u00eda, Instituto Barraquer de Am\u00e9rica, Bogot\u00e1 110321, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luz","family":"Bernal Parra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud\u2014ECISA, Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, UNAD, Bogot\u00e1 111511, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"Bernal Lizaraz\u00fa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud\u2014ECISA, Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia, UNAD, Bogot\u00e1 111511, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hollman","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Vaup\u00e9s, Secretariate of Health, Mit\u00fa 970001, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4855-5008","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher, Bogot\u00e1 110111, Colombia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) (2022, October 22). 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