The Ministry of Health recorded 363 deaths of Yanomami indigenous people in 2023, the first year of the Lula government (PT) and the first year with emergency public health actions in the traditional territory, the largest in the country.
The number of reported deaths is higher than the official number for 2022, when 343 deaths were reported, but health professionals do not compare the two years due to the high underreporting of cases in the last year of the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL).
The public health emergency, declared on January 20, 2023, led to a greater presence of professionals in the territory, with a greater identification of cases.
Even so, the high number of deaths, the persistence of severe malnutrition cases, and the explosion of malaria cases highlight the seriousness and persistence of the humanitarian crisis faced by the Yanomamis.
"All numbers are preliminary and are being investigated by Sesai [Indigenous Health Secretariat]," says Weibe Tapeba, Indigenous Health Secretary.