More than half of the Yanomami live in a situation of health risk

A study published this Wednesday (21), carried out by the group Geo-Yanomamicoordinated by Institute of Health Communication and Information (Icict/Fiocruz), points out that 62% of the Yanomami indigenous communities live in threatened areas today.

Due to the humanitarian crisis that hit the Yanomami indigenous population earlier this year, the group Geo-Yanomami it was created to support the construction of a database that would help emergency actions in the field, as well as the production, organization and analysis of data that would allow the permanent assessment of the health situation of the indigenous population. The group is made up of researchers and students from various institutions, such as Fiocruz, Ligas/UVA and others.

The researchers crossed several databases, in addition to aerial images, referring to 366 indigenous communities and their surroundings to measure the escalation of threats to the health of indigenous people in recent years. The group noted an increase of more than 100 airstrips, at least 38 of which are clandestine, mainly in the north of the Yanomami Territory.

_{Map shows the airstrips located in Yanomami Territory (Photo: Disclosure/GT Geo-Yanomami)}

The study also revealed that illegal mining and invasions affected several stretches of rivers close to the community. Around 53% of the rivers are potentially contaminated, affecting a population of around 12,000 indigenous people.

According to the research, “Environmental degradation and poor land use caused by mining are directly related to the increase in indigenous health problems in recent years.”

“Among the main changes observed in the Yanomami Territory are the fires: there were 708 km² of areas affected between 2017 and 2022. The other activities that most destroyed the forest in the region were deforestation and mining”, points out the study.

According to the technical note published by the group, the process of deterritorialization caused by illegal mining activities and invasions has an impact on the geographic distribution and survival of populations, who seek new unpolluted areas with bioecological capacity to sustain their way of life. However, many communities are unable to carry out this migration and end up in extremely vulnerable situations from a socio-environmental point of view.

Featured Photo: Yanomami Community. Reproduction/GettyImages/Globo.