The health situation of Indian peoples in Brazil was the main
topic discussed at an audience which the minister of Health, Adib
Jatene, held with Cimi representatives on November 14. At the
audience, Cimi warned the minister that not enough attention
is being paid to the health of Indians in Brazil and stressed that the
difficulties which the Ministry has been facing to implement health
actions in favor of Indians are largely derived from the
nonimplementation of Indigenous Sanitary Districts throughout the
country, as decided in National Health Conferences. Cimi asked the
minister to support the establishment of the Districts and actions to
strengthen the Interinstitutional Indigenous Health Centers (NISI) and
the Indian Health Councils as components of an assistential model
which is adequate to Indian communities.
It was also highlighted that the training of Indian health agents
should be specific, that is, it should not be based on ethnocentric
and strictly technological criteria, but rather on a differentiated
approach, so that the needs of the different peoples in the country
may be adequately met. Recent data provided by Funai and published in
the local press reveal that the health care provided to Indian peoples
is the worst in the country. The document says that 43.6% of all known
deaths are of children aged less than 5 and 25% occur without any
medical assistance whatsoever. About 70% of the 200 Indian peoples in
Brazil are included in the hunger map. The average lifetime of a
Brazilian Indian is 48 years.
The Cimi representatives delivered a dossier to the minister on
the Deni people, from the state of Amazonas, who are threatened with
extinction because of common diseases, such as tuberculosis and
malaria. In 1992. their population decreased by 20% because of a
measles epidemics. Diseases that could be prevented through preventive
medical care, such as diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition, are common
causes of death in Indian areas.
FUNAI BEGINS CENSUS IN THE GUARANI-KAIOWA PEOPLE
On Monday, November 20, Funai will begin a demographic census in
five of the 22 Guarani-Kaiowa villages, in the state of Mato Grosso do
Sul. The aim is to identify the present population and make a
diagnosis of the living conditions in these villages, where
overpopulation has been one of the factors that have led to a higher
suicide rate. This week, the 49th death this year was registered. The
method used in most suicides is hanging, and 63% of the victims are
aged 25 in the average. The Guarani-Kaiowa population is estimated at
27,000 Indians. In the Dourados village, where most cases were
registered, there are about 9,000 persons in 3,500 hectares. The work
is expected to last 40 days.
Brasilia, November 17, 1995
Indianist Missionary Council