Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Wednesday, 6 November 1996.
Michael Christie
They said fears that AIDS could decimate Indian populations, as syphilis did in the last century, were exaggerated but concern was high enough to justify a major education offensive.
"We are extremely worried and are revising our action plan for primary AIDS prevention among Indian tribes," Pedro Paulo Santana of the Health Ministry's AIDS department said. "Over the next weeks, we will have defined how to carry it out and have identified which tribes should receive protection."
The National Indian Foundation (Funai) estimates that some 20 of Brazil's 320,000 Indians have contracted the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Known by Indians as the "Disease of Manaus" after the Amazonian capital, reflecting their view that it is a "White Man's illness", its threat to Indians is exacerbated by a culture of polygamy among many tribes, Santana said.
In addition, many tribes practice sexual initiation ceremonies for adolescents and some have been led into prostitution by "garimpeiros," as wildcat gold- and diamond- miners are called in Portuguese.
"I don't think promiscuity is the right word," Santana said. "But they have a different sexual culture, which makes them more vulnerable."
The issue has been highlighted by reports a woman of the Tiriyo tribe in the northern state of Para has contracted HIV and may be spreading the virus among her people.
The Tiriyo, who number only about 380 and live on the border with Suriname, are a polygamic society. Their contact with the modern world has been limited to Franciscan missionaries and a scattering of garimpeiros.
The Correio Braziliense newspaper Tuesday said the woman may have contracted the HIV virus in Suriname.
A Funai spokesman said the agency was closely monitoring the Para case and was cooperating with the Health Ministry in drawing up the new AIDS-prevention campaign for Indians.
Recorded cases of Indians with AIDS or HIV first surfaced some three years ago. "But it's just becoming an issue now," the Funai spokesman said.
Officials said AIDS prevention among the indigenous population was a "totally new ball game" because of huge culture gaps between Westerners and the Indians. "Their culture complicates things," Santana said. "Every tribe is different."
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