CEDI
So Paulo, September 16, 1992
We are retransmitting CCPY's most recent report on the situation of the
Yanomami.
"CCPY Update 60
September 10, 1992.
FNS health workers withdraw from Yanomami area
The current crisis in the Brazilian federal government has had strong
repercussions on the Yanomami. As all attention and activity is centered on
the corruption scandal in Brasilia, government agency budgets are not being
disbursed as planned. In a letter dated August 31 health workers employed
by the National Health Foundation (FNS) in the state of Roraima to work in
the Yanomami Health District notified Waldir Joo Ferreira da Silva, the FNS
coordinator in Roraima, of their withdrawal from the 17 health posts in the
Yanomami area. In the letter, they cited dwindling resources to fly to
areas affected by malaria (the team had 20 hours of flight time available as
of September 1) and lack of essential medicines, especially Mefloquina used
to combat malaria - entirely unavailable in the Yanomami Health District
(DSY) since the middle of August. Equipment requested to spray the breeding
grounds of malaria-bearing mosquitos had not been provided and the incidence
of malaria is increasing. There were more than 4,000 cases recorded in the
last six months. In some places, more than half the population has died of
the disease. Health workers and the indians affected by diseases did not
have adequate food supplies. Furthermore, large proportion of the indians
are too ill to plant their fields, affecting next year's food supply. The
letter, signed by 13 of the DSY health workers, accuses the FNS of being
slow and unwilling to meet health needs in the area. In the Casa do dndio
in Boa Vista, about half the 120 patients are Yanomami, mostly malaria
victims. At the beginning of the month, there was only two weeks' supply of
food left, provided by the Dutch branch of Mdecins sans Frontires. The Casa
do dndio would be swamped with new patients if flights continued to bring in
emergency cases from the Yanomami area. News reports noted that the
Yanomami were increasingly resistant to medical treatment, irregular,
inadequate and therefore ineffective. The garimpeiros (miners) have not
missed their chance, inciting the Yanomami to react against Funai and FNS
staff. Some Yanomami invaded a post in Baixo Mucaja!, taking food and
gasoline. The garimpeiros have supplied the Yanomami with food and guns as
they invade the reserve once again. They now number about 2,000.
Funai reacts
Sydney Possuelo, the President of Funai, met with Funai regional
administrators last month to ask for their support to work out a strategy to
rescue the agency's work. Possuelo would like Funai to take back
responsability for Indian health care - given to the FNS two years ago when
Funai's work was decentralized. At stake is the disbursement over the
Cr$90 billion allocated to the Ministry of Health for health work among the
indigenous population. Funai, with a budget of Cr$870 million, is as
strapped for funds as the National Health Foundation (FNS) whose funds are
embargoed because of government expenditure cuts. After meeting regional
administrators Possuelo visited Clio Borja, the Minister of Justice,
requesting that military helicopters be used to visit the most critical
Yanomami areas. These visits will be carried out over a period of four days
to remove emergency cases, investigate invasions by garimpeiros, and will
probably lead to an evaluation that will provide the basis for further Funai
lobbying to reassume responsibility for the health work. Dinarte Nobre de
Madeiro, the former coordinator of the successful operation to remove
garimpeiros prior to demarcation of Yanomami land, visited the Commander of
the Armed Forces in the Amazon on September 3 to ask for the helicopters to
be released. Meanwhile, Possuelo is calling in Funai employees with health
care training to work on an emergency basis in the Yanomami area. The aim
of the DSY health workers in Roraima, all of them committed to Yanomami
rights, is to force the government to take responsibility for the work.
There is some friction between the group and Waldir Joo Ferreira da Silva,
who was appointed temporarily to his post by the FNS in Brasilia as part of
a team that is investigating administrative irregularities of his
predecessor. The DSY workers allege that he and the FNS in Brasilia are to
blame for the situation because they do not provide necessary support for
Yanomami health work, which continues to be critically important. Waldir's
reputation among DSY health workers worsened when, at a meeting held in
Manaus in July, he untactfully declared that any permanent appointee to his
post would have to be approved by Roraima politicians. If this is so, the
next appointment could be tragic for the Yanomami. The FNS in Brasilia is
under constant pressure by congressmen from Roraima to accept their nominees
to state-level posts, including the one now occupied by Waldir. Sydney
Possuelo of Funai is against intervention by local governments in the
appointment of officials who work with indigenous peoples. The President of
FNS, in a meeting with CCPY on August 25, gave assurances that until the
investigation ends the administrator will be a career civil servant in the
FNS. After the investigation, it will be necessary to make a permanent
appointment of someone who understands the importance of the work done in
the DSY and is at the same time capable of overseeing all FNS work in
Roraima. The same Roraima political group has continued to be active in the
Yanomami issue; the Di rio de Roraima reported that Chico Rodrigues, a
federal deputy, had been told by President Collor that he would review the
demarcation of the Yanomami area. Although this would be very difficult,
the statement reflects the unwillingness of this political force to
recognize Yanomami land rights.
Demini Health Project sees increase in malaria
The Demini region, served by a CCPY health team, has been one of the two
least affected by the departure of the FNS health workers, the other being
Catrimani. Still, Dr. Deise Francisco, coordinator of the health team,
reported that there are 12 new cases of malaria out of a population of 90
Yanomami at the Demini indian post, after months with no new cases.
Mosquito breeding grounds in the area were identified by FNS entomologists
but were not eradicated because of the shortage of equipment and personnel.
Late-Breaking News
Waldir Joo Ferreira da Silva has asked to leave his post as FNS"s district
coordinator in Roraima and will be returning to Brasilia this week. Another
career FNS official will take his place until the end of the investigation
of administrative irregularities in the FNS there. A small quantity of
Mefloquina and food supply arrived by the end of last week to take care of
emergency cases in the Yanomami Health District."