21. Poverty Determinants of Acute Respiratory Infections in the Mapuche Population of Ninth Region of Araucanía, Chile (2000–2005): A Bayesian Approach with Time-Space Modeling

This chapter highlights the relationship between poverty and disease among Mapuche indigenous peoples vis-à-vis the local population and ultimately, tests comparative differentials in mortality rates. First of all, we offer an overview of the destitute poverty in which Mapuche live and the consistency among all measurements including Census data, educational achievement scores and vulnerability index from school children. Although aggregate information gives a valuable and fair description of the problem, additional tests and GIS-based maps highlight the internal structures of inequalities among neighborhoods and the sharp territorial contrasts between Mapuche and non-Mapuche living conditions. GIS-based poverty maps display the territorial distributions of deprivation, whereas specific clusters of diseases are tested to verify whether such configurations are random or spatially dependent. Tobbler’s “first law of geography” is discussed and eventually tested in this section. Since the study data is longitudinal, test for autocorrelation is introduced with Bayesian time-space modelling. Conclusively, Mapuche people die at higher rates than non-Mapuches as well as show significantly higher rates of disease. Consistently, this ethnic group also represents the most impoverished and marginalized one of Chilean society, both at regional and national levels.