Nearly 70 indigenous babies died in Roraima in one year, says state government report

A report prepared by the government of Roraima shows that 438 indigenous people died between January 2022 and January 2023. Of these, 68 were babies up to 1 year old.

The document was drawn up based on a request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Roraima, which is investigating how care was given to Yanomami indigenous people in basic health units during the period. As this is a report to meet a request from the MP, there is no data from previous years.

In the text obtained by CNN the government informs that due to data limitations, it is unable to specify exactly how many of those who lost their lives are from the Yanomami ethnic group, which is going through a serious humanitarian and health crisis.

Of the 68 babies under one year old who lost their lives, according to the data in the state government document, 14 deaths were caused by gastrointestinal diseases, such as diarrhea. Another ten were victims of pneumonia.

And two fatal cases of malaria were recorded in this age group. The disease worries indigenous leaders and members of the Brazilian government, who this week sent more rapid tests to detect the disease to the indigenous land.

Homicides, accidents and suicides are the main causes of death among indigenous people in general. Together, they represent almost 20% of deaths. There were 24 murders in the state during the period.

Cardiovascular diseases were the second leading cause of deaths that occurred in the state. 50 indigenous people died of respiratory diseases, while 47 suffered from so-called “infectious and parasitic diseases”, including malaria, which claimed the lives of six people.