Vale do Javari Faces Indigenous Child Deaths, Water Shortages, and Flu Outbreak [View all]

Health Ministry claims to follow protocols to prevent disease spread in the Amazon

Feb.7.2025 11:23AM

João Gabriel

Brasília
Children dying from preventable causes, a pharmacy comparable to a chicken coop, tables used as stretchers, lack of potable water and medicine, flu and diarrhea outbreaks, and symptomatic patients disregarding quarantine and moving freely through villages.

According to a series of documents accessed by Folha, this is the current situation in Vale do Javari, in the Amazon, the territory with the highest number of isolated Indigenous peoples in the world.



ATALAIA DO NORTE, AM, 10.06.2022 - Vale do Javari, in Amazonas. (Foto: Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress) - Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress


The records cover the past 13 months and various Indigenous groups living in the region, including communities that require special protection due to their extreme immunological vulnerability to diseases like the flu, which can be fatal in these cases.

Preliminary data from the Health Ministry indicate that 16 people died in the territory between January 1 and September 30, 2024, six of whom were children under five years old.

The Health Ministry states that it recommends maintaining quarantine, enforces protocols to prevent disease spread, and adopts "an integrated approach" to prevent avoidable deaths.

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2025/02/vale-do-javari-faces-indigenous-child-deaths-water-shortages-and-flu-outbreak.shtml