Emergency in Yanomami land can only end with perennial policy

The working group created by the National Health Council (CNS) to monitor the Yanomami health emergency arrived in Roraima early this Tuesday (16th) to meet with local indigenous leaders. In an interview with Agência Brasil, the coordinator of the Intersectoral Commission for Indigenous Health, Rildo Mendes, said that the proposal is to ensure that emergency actions become permanent public policy. “We are visiting to see what is being done with regard to the Yanomami issue. We are concerned because the Yanomami people are permanent in their territory and emergency actions have a deadline: until the problem is resolved. But the impact caused by mining is long-term. We are concerned about what will be done with the Yanomami people after these actions end,” he said. According to the counselor, there is no talk of the end of emergency actions in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, but neither is there any kind of signaling or indication, by the federal government, of permanent actions for the territory. “What we have are emergency actions. As soon as they are finished, everything goes back to normal and the Yanomami people continue in their territory. The mining also continues and the impact left is immense”. Starting at 2 pm this Tuesday, the working group will meet with Yanomami leaders in Boa Vista. On Wednesday (17), the agenda includes a meeting with the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai), the Special Indigenous Health District (Dsei), the Center for Emergency Operations in Public Health (COE/Yanomami), the National Council for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), the District Council for Indigenous Health (Condisi) and state and municipal health advisors. On Thursday (18th) and Friday (19th), the commission should meet with representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, indigenous health workers and unions. A visit to the Indigenous Health House (Casai) is also planned. At the end of the visit, according to Mendes, the group will send a report to the National Health Council “for action”. The forecast is that the document will be finalized by June 7. Once approved, the report must be forwarded to entities such as the Indigenous Health Secretariat (Sesai), the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) and other competent bodies, including the Ministry of Health. “We came to listen. Let’s talk to those involved. Emergency actions can only be finalized once public policies are in place for the Yanomami people,” concluded the commission’s coordinator. The working group has the following composition: – Luiz Carlos Ferreira Penha, national health advisor for the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab); – Vânia Leite, national health advisor for the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB); – Roberto Marques, from the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Nordeste; – Esther Ferrer, from the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi); – Eliene Rodrigues, from the Brazilian Association Rede Unida; – Ana Lúcia Paduello, member of the CNS board of directors; – Ana Carolina Dantas, CNS executive secretary; – Gustavo Cabral, Deputy Executive Secretary of the CNS.

Agência Brasil