The number of deaths among Brazil’s Yanomami indigenous people fell by 21 percent from 2023 to 2024, as per data from the Ministry of Health released Monday (May 5). The amount went from 428 deaths in 2023 to 337 last year.
Deaths from acute respiratory infections plummeted by 47 percent, malaria by 42 percent, and malnutrition by 20 percent. Preventable deaths sank from 179 in 2023 to 132 in 2024, down 26 percent. Non-preventable deaths went down from 249 to 205—a drop of 17.7 percent.
The figures are said to stem from the greater presence of health agents and investment in infrastructure and qualification by the federal government. The number of professionals working in the region rose from 690 at the start of 2023 to 1,781—a surge of 158 percent.
“The joint efforts of the entire federal government ensured the necessary fight and allowed health professionals to enter villages and care for the people. The number of health professionals in the territory more than doubled,” Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha noted.
Also recorded was a 65 percent growth in the number of doses administered recommended as routine as part of the Yanomami public health emergency of national importance, declared in January 2023. A total of 53,477 doses were given in 2024 compared to 32,352 in 2023.
Malnutrition
Severe malnutrition—very low weight in children under five—fell from 24.2 percent in 2023 to 19.2 percent in 2024. With the improvement in the nutritional status of this population, an increase was seen in the percentage of children with adequate weight, plus a reduction in the number of children with very low weight. As it stands today, half of Yanomami children are at their ideal weight.
“Nutritional recovery in children is a slower and more complex process, especially in the most serious cases, and it can take years for the weight to normalize and for the immune system to strengthen,” Secretary of Indigenous Health Weibe Tapeba pointed out.
Since the beginning of the emergency period in the Yanomami territory, the Ministry of Health has reopened seven care centers that had been closed due to lack of security because of illegal mining. By April 2024, all the facilities had reopened, allowing 5,224 indigenous people access to health care at the Kayanaú, Homoxi, Hakoma, Ajaraní, Haxiú, Xitei, and Palimiú centers.
Original article published in Agência Brasil.
