Tenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

In Brazil, there are 305 indigenous ethnic groups, with a population of approximately 900,000 people. Distributed in more than 5.5 thousand villages and with 274 different languages, these peoples occupy more than 12% of the national territory. With cultures and habits differing from urban communities, inhabitants from these villages have in common the difficulty of access to health services, especially in the Amazon region. Few health centres and hospitals operate in the areas where they live, which often becomes a complicating factor for them to get adequate diagnosis and treatment for their problems. CFM, Brazil’s medical regulatory authority, one of the largest regulatory bodies in the world, with mandatory affiliation of nearly half a million physicians in a country of continental dimensions, has noted the need to include the indigenous health debate in the primary care policy agenda of the National Health System (Sistema Público de Saúde - SUS), as well as encouraging the internships of medical students in indigenous communities. CFM has created a Border Doctors Commission composed, apart from its own advisors, of medical lecturers working in the Amazon region with indigenous health. This commission held scientific events in tropical forest states such as Acre, Amapá and Mato Grosso do Sul, and promoted from this initiative the creation or increase of indigenous rural internships in public and private medical schools within the region. This action allows students to integrate humanistic, social and health content, fundamental for learning primary health care, respecting the various indigenous cultures.