Análisis espacial de anomalías congénitas en menores de 1 año atendidos en Ecuador de 2015 – 2019: distribución con relación a zonas agrícolas, mineras y petroleras

Abstract

Congenital anomalies are a group of disorders of variable etiology and heterogeneous nature, present in 6% of births worldwide. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of congenital anomalies in children under 1 year old, attended in health units in Ecuador, and their relationship with residence in areas of mining, oil and agro-industrial exploitation, in the period 2015-2019. A critical epidemiological study was carried out that allowed the analysis of extractive contamination and agricultural production, and the presence of malformations using the critical processes matrix, which is a tool for analyzing the movement of social determination of health. The research used a descriptive analysis, modeling and distribution of clusters of care records for children under 1 year of age in units of the Ministry of Health, during the years 2015 to 2019, and a socio-environmental and geographical analysis of the critical processes of environmental contamination in the equator. The results show that the distribution of each group of congenital anomalies varies between the provinces and cantons of Ecuador and increases in places with greater extractive exploitation and industrial agricultural production. Ecuador is a scenario where epidemiological and spatial expressions of the capitalist model are manifested, which conditions critical socio-epidemiological and environmental processes. The productive nature of exploitation is due to a discriminatory and exclusive social order, which results in evident contrasts in the levels of exposure and the consequent incidence of congenital defects in the child population.