Dozens of Yanomami children hospitalized in northern Brazil amid health crisis

28/1/2023 6:39

        Dozens of indigenous children suffering from malnutrition and acute diseases have been hospitalized in northern Brazil, with relatives in hammocks holding their emaciated frames in scenes that underscore the gravity of a public health crisis.
        
        The health secretary of Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, said on Friday that 59 indigenous children were currently at the only pediatric hospital in the state, 45 of them from the Yanomami people. Eight were under intensive care.
        
        That compares to a total 703 hospitalizations in all of last year, the Boa Vista health secretary said, noting that most children have been taken to hospital for acute diarrhea, gastroenterocolitis, malnutrition, pneumonia and malaria.
        
        Brazil's government last week declared a medical emergency in the Yanomami territory, the country's largest indigenous reservation, after reports of children dying of malnutrition and other diseases caused by illegal gold mining.