Brasilia. The Brazilian government declared a public health emergency for the Yanomami people of the Amazon, who suffer from malnutrition and diseases such as malaria as a result of illegal mining.
The decree, signed on Friday by Health Minister Nisia Trindade, does not have an expiration date and allows additional staff to be hired. It determines that the team in charge has to publish reports related to the health and general well-being of the indigenous group.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has also formed a multi-ministerial committee that will be coordinated by his chief of staff for an initial period of 90 days. The president will travel to the capital of the state of Roraima, Boa Vista, where many sick Yanomami have been admitted to specialized hospitals.
The Yanomami are the largest native group in Brazil, with a population of approximately 30,000 people who live in an area of more than nine million hectares (22 million acres) in the northern part of the Amazon rainforest, near the border with Venezuela.
In recent years, specialists have warned about the emergence of a humanitarian and health crisis. The report “Yanomami under attack”, written by the NGO Instituto Socioambiental, indicates that in 2021 the region was responsible for 50 percent of malaria cases in the country. In the same report, he indicated that more than three thousand children were malnourished.
Illegal mining is the main cause of the problems faced by the Yanomami people. Activists accuse the miners of death threats, sexual violence, and alcohol and drug abuse, especially against indigenous children. The same report shows that in the region the miners illegally built more than 40 airstrips and took control of some government health centers.
A few days ago, the Ministry of Health appointed a team for a special health mission in the Yanomami region. Lula scheduled an emergency trip to the state of Roraima following a report by the independent local news site Samauma, which published shocking photos of malnourished children.
According to the report, during the last four years of the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, the death of children under the age of six increased 29 percent compared to the previous government. The same report indicates that 570 Yanomami children died between 2019 and 2022 due to curable diseases.
Lula tweeted that the government received information about the “absurd situation” of malnutrition among Yanomami children. The president will be accompanied by several of his ministers in Boa Vista.
