"CCPY Update 59
August 13, 1992
Health
Yanomami health project debated
A meeting called by the National Health Foundation (FNS) was held in
Manaus from July 1 to 3, with the participation of Yanomami indians, the
Coordinating Commitee of Indigenous People in the Brazilian Amazon
(COIAB), Funai, the Secretariat of the Environment, the Manaus Nursing
School, the University of Manaus, the Brazilian Anthropological
Association, religious missions and the CCPY. The purpose of the meeting
was to review work on the Yanomami Health Project since April 1991, when
the project was drafted and National Health Foundation (FNS) officials
took responsibility for raising the funds necessary for its
implementation.
Unexpected obstacles have arisen over the last fourteen months, as the
Ministry of Health was involved in one of the first chapters of the
current federal government corruption scandal. Not only was the Ministry
absorbed by investigations and inquiries but the FNS staff present at the
April 1991 meeting is no longer employed there. Fundraising activities
made no progress. The Yanomami Health Project activities were partly
funded by the World Bank project to combat malaria in the Amazon and its
Yanomami subproject.
Representatives of the FNS at the meeting mentioned once again the
availability of federal funding for a Urihi (home) Unit, or small
hospital. Those present at the meeting endorsed the proposal on the
condition that it not imply abandonment of other priorities, including
the construction of smaller health posts.
Evaluation of the Yanomami health situation showed grave difficulties
with malaria, which is epidemic in some areas like Auaris, Homoxi and
Xideia.
COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF THE YANOMAMI HEALTH DISTRICT MEETS
On July 14 the Coordinating Committee of the Yanomami Health District
convened a meeting to discuss the creation of a Community Health Council
for the Yanomami area. The Council will be made up of representatives of
FNS, Funai, NGOs and missions. It will discuss technical problems, lay
down common guidelines and goals and oversee execution of health work.
A number of members of the Coordinating Committee noted that the Yanomami
Health District should be more financially independent in order to be
more autonomous. As President Collor's position weakens in the midst of
corruption scandals, there are fears that the Roraima state government
will be able to pressure FNS to appoint its local political allies to
Health District administrative posts, to the detriment of those committed
to Yanomami interests.
DEMINI HEALTH PROJECT REPORT ISSUED
Activities in the Demini Health Project focussed on a new strategy to set
up a permanent medical post in Bala#, in the middle of Area 15. Staff
has been hired and is already active; the Yanomami are building an
airstrip there.
In March and April the team carried out complete physical exams on 458
people, testing for malaria, vaccinating against yellow fever and
hepatitis B, diagnosing and treating other illnesses. Only 3.9% of those
examined were infected by it, but 80% showed physical signs of having
suffered repeated bouts of malaria.
Among the Watoriketheri, where a resident nurse has been working for some
time, there had been no cases of malaria for three months. Visitors from
another region brought it in again and 18 indians (20% of the population)
were infected. A team of FNS entomologists is now taking preventive
measures in the area, identifying the breeding grounds of malaria-bearing
mosquitos. An indian returning from Boa Vista brought flu to the
village, infecting 100% of the inhabitants, some of whom suffered
complications. A doctor and medicines were flown in.
Between March and July seven people died in the region, six of unknown
causes as no medical personnel was present and one, a child, of fever and
hemorrhage, possibly yellow fever. From April to July fourteen children
were born.
During the month of August, Davi Kopenawa, two other Yanomami and a CCPY
nurse will be travelling to the Tarau River region. This area,
accessible only during the rainy season, is part of the Demini Health
Project's area. Taking advantage of the higher water level over a period
of about two months, the team will make a survey of population and health
conditions.
Politics
Rumblings against the Yanomami reserve in the government
The effects of UNCED seem to have ended. There are already signs of a
more repressive attitude towards indigenous land rights in both the
Legislative and Executive branches. On June 24 the Committee on National
Defense of the Chamber of Deputies approved a report in favour of a draft
bill presented by Deputy Jair Bolsonaro (see Update 58). The bill would
revoke demarcation of Yanomami land ordered by the Minister of Justice
last November. It alleges the order for demarcation was unconstitutional
because it was not approved by Congress and the National Defense Council
was not consulted on the matter.
The draft bill will be discussed next by the Commission on the
Environment, Consumer Rights and Minorities which is expected to let the
matter ride. The Commission on Constitution and Justice will then either
stop the bill, if it believes demarcation to have been constitutional, or
submit it to a vote by Congress. Such a vote would probably not take
place before next year.
President Collor's Chief of Staff, Marcos Coimbra, issued Notice No 745
in early August, ordering the Secretary of the Environment and the
Minister of Justice to consult various organs of government before
creating any more environmental conservation or indigenous areas. The
Armed Forces Chief of Staff is to be consulted on issues of national
sovereignty; the National Department of Mineral Protection on "underlying
strategic mineral deposits"; Eletrobr s, the state power company, on
hydroelectricity potential, and EMBRAPA, the agricultural research
agency, on "defense of biodiversity."
The notice violates several provisions of the Constitution on
environmental protection and indigenous rights; it also compromises
efforts to meet the constitutional deadline for demarcating indigenous
land. Furthermore, notices communicate administrative measures and have
no normative or legal status and are not even published: Coimbra is
surreptitiously trying to slow to a standstill federal decision-making on
environmental and indigenous issues. The Ministry of Justice is studying
the legality of the measure.
THE YANOMAMI CAUSE IS PRESENTED TO UN WORKING GROUP
The Indian Law Resource Center, headquartered in Washington, D.C,
delivered a statement on behalf of the Yanomami to the UN Working Group
on Indigenous Populations in July. The statement gave a short history of
the Yanomami since contact and of the struggle for demarcation that
finally came to an end with ratification of the area by President Collor
last May. It notes the difficulties caused by invasion of gold miners,
continuing on a smaller scale than before, and by disease, especially
malaria.
The statement appeals for help to buy drugs to combat malaria and to find
the means to lease a helicopter for use by Funai, the FNS and NGOs that
carry out health work, and also to monitor the area and keep it free of
miners. The statement included a draft resolution for submission by the
Working Group to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities.
MILITARY KEEP THE PRESSURE UP
At the beginning of August, the Ministry of the Army issued an official
request, passed on to the CCPY by the FNS in Roraima, for complete
information about foreign health workers employed by NGOs. This is a new
effort by the military to put non-governmental health work in the
Yanomami area in check.
On August 13 the Minister of the Army, General Carlos Tinoco, travelled
to Roraima. He visited military installations and met with Governor
Ottomar Pinto and other politicians. Although he made no public
statement during his visit, the local press had reported that the issue
he was to discuss with the governor was the Yanomami reserve.
Comissao pela Criacao do Parque Yanomami - CCPY
Rua Manoel da Nobrega 111 cj.32
04001-900 Sao Paulo SP Brasil
Tel: (011) 289-1200 / Fax: (011) 284-6997