The health secretary of Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, says 59 young people are hospitalized, adding up to forty-five from the Yanomami people.
Dozens of indigenous youth suffering from malnutrition and acute illness have been hospitalized in northern Brazil, with parents in hammocks holding their emaciated bodies in scenes underscoring the severity of a public health crisis.
The health secretary of Boa Vista, capital of Roraima state, said Friday that 59 indigenous youth are recently in the state’s pediatric hospital, adding up to forty-five of the Yanomami people. Eight are in intensive care.
This compares with a total of 703 hospitalizations over the past year, the secretary said, noting that most children have been hospitalized for acute diarrhea, gastroenterocolitis, malnutrition, pneumonia and malaria.
The Brazilian government last week declared a medical emergency in Yanomami territory, the country’s largest indigenous reserve, following reports of young people dying from malnutrition and other diseases from illegal gold mining.
Officials have called the crisis “genocide,” accusing former President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration of negligence, and some of the territory now looks like a “concentration camp. “
“Malnutrition is the biggest challenge right now,” Boa Vista Health Secretary Regiane Matos told Reuters in an interview. “These other people have been forgotten in their communities. In recent years, it has only gotten worse and what we need now are solutions. “”
He said illegal mining in the region had “deepened” the crisis, severely polluting the territory’s waterways, from where the Yanomami get water and food.
The reserve has been overrun by illegal miners for decades, but incursions multiplied after Bolsonaro forced his way in 2018, promising to allow mining in the past.
At Boa Vista Children’s Hospital, Reuters saw several young indigenous men so thin that their ribs could be seen.
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“Many are sick, there is no food,” said Marcelo Yanomami, father of a hospitalized child. “Many of our loved ones have died. Many Yanomami died.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited the region this week. The Brazilian Air Force on Friday inaugurated a box hospital in Boa Vista to treat 700 Yanomami, in addition to flights delivering food to the area.