The actions of the Amazon Joint Operational Command promoted better health conditions for indigenous people
Air Force Agency – Cmdo Op Cj Amz, by Lieutenant Caio Zoia and Lieutenant Johny Lucas
The Amazon Joint Operational Command (Cmdo Op Cj Amz), through the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) Field Hospital (HCAMP), provided more than 2,000 medical services to the Yanomami people.
Since the beginning of Operation Yaonami, 77 military personnel from the health area worked in the Field Hospital. Among the specialties offered, pediatrics was the one with the largest contingent (632), followed by clinical medicine (196) and gynecology (152). The main cases diagnosed were: malnutrition at different levels, pneumonia, acute diarrhea, skin diseases, and malaria.
The data recorded throughout the operation showed a significant improvement in the health of the Yanomami people and confirmed that the indigenous health management exercise, in the sense of protecting, promoting, and recovering the health of the native peoples, as well as guiding the development of integral health care actions, were carried out effectively.
Reduction in the number of patients
After 84 days of operation, the number of daily medical assistance had reduced considerably, which represented stability in the demand for care by the indigenous people. The reduction is even more evident when the total number of patients seen in April is compared to the total number of patients seen at the beginning of the operation. The sum of the first 15 days of the operation was 1079 attendances, an average of 72 per day, while in the last fortnight there were 113, a daily average of 7/5 attendances, representing a 90% decrease.
The gradual reduction of cases also changed the structure offered by HCAMP, which adapted to the needs of each period of operation. In January, when the activities started, the hospital consisted of eight modules, 19 tons of equipment, and the first contingent composed of 31 military personnel, who formed a team of specialists in clinical medicine, orthopedics, general surgery, and pediatrics, as well as nurses, pharmacists, and nursing technicians. Currently, the recently installed Ministry of Health’s Indigenous Health Reference Center in the Surucucu base, in the far west of the reserve, has begun to provide the most urgent medical care.
One of the commanders of the HCAMP contingent, Brazilian Air Force Medical Major Fabíola Cristine Marques, talked about the 2,000 consultations carried out by the military during Operation Yanomami. “The goal was successfully achieved in the emergency care of Yanomami indigenous health within the operation. In the first month the services were urgency and emergency, we had patients who needed stabilization and removal to hospitals in the city, today the situation is under control,” he said.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day Event
HCAMP, together with the Casa de Saúde Indígena (CASAI) promoted an event to celebrate the Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is celebrated on April 19th. The action included activities such as recreational hose bathing with children, distribution of personal hygiene products, balls, and clothing.
CASAI
According to the Ordinance of the Ministry of Health nº 1.801/2015, CASAI is the establishment responsible for the support, reception, and assistance to indigenous people directed to the services of the Unified Health System (SUS). Its main mission is related to the exercise of indigenous health management, in order to protect, promote and recover the health of indigenous peoples, as well as to guide the development of actions of integral attention to indigenous health.
FAB provides logistical support to the Brazilian Federal Government delegation in Roraima
On Friday (April 21), the Amazon Joint Operational Command (Cmdo Op Cj Amz), through the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), provided logistical support to a delegation from the Federal Government for the inauguration of the Indigenous Health Reference Center in Surucucucu.
Present at the event were the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara; Federal Congresswoman Célia Nunes Correa; the secretary of Indigenous Health of the Ministry of Health, Ricardo Weibe Tapeba, and the president of the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), Joênia Wapichana.
The Indigenous Health Reference Center was installed in the Surucucu base camp, in the far west of the reserve, close to the border with Venezuela, and should attend to serious cases of malnutrition and malaria.
The expectation of the Ministry of Health (MS) is that the unit will become a permanent service, even after the end of the Public Health Emergency of National Importance [ESPIN].
Photos: Sergeant Viegas and Sergeant Lucas Nunes / CECOMSAER