Pulmonary tuberculosis in Brazilian indians: a picture of this context depicted through radiography.

Abstract

Radiol Bras. 2015 Set/Out;48(5):V–VI Currently the Brazilian indigenous population is estimated to be a little more than 817 thousand individuals scattered all over the regions of the country, according to the 2010 demographic census. Such a population is the remainder of the original fivemillion indigenous population that lived in the Brazilian forests at the time of the Europeans’ arrival. They are found in greater number in the North and Central-West regions where about 90% of the demarcated lands are located, with 60% of the population distributed principally throughout the states of Roraima, Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul. Unfortunately, there are no reliable data about the true health conditions of the Brazilian indigenous population. The data made available by some official organs such as Fundacao Nacional do Indio (FUNAI) (National Indian Foundation), Fundacao Nacional de Saude (FUNASA) (National Health Foundation), Secretaria Especial de Saude Indigena (SESAI) (Special Secretary of Indigenous Health) and non-governmental organizations demonstrate high rates of morbidity and mortality in the indigenous population, frequently superior to those observed in the general Brazilian population. Such a reality is a result from intrinsic immunological characteristics, living habits, malnutrition and elevated rates of infectious diseases such as gastrointestinal infections, respiratory infections, tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmissible diseases and malaria. The occurrence of tuberculosis (TB) is closely related to a low index of human development (IHD) characterized by unfavorable social conditions, low schooling index, and precarious housing and health conditions – unfortunately a sad reality present in most indigenous villages of our country. Available data indicate that, amongst indigenous individuals, the tuberculosis incidence rate in 2013 (95.6/100,000 individuals) was three times higher than the incidence rate observed in the general population for the same period (35.4/100,000 individuals). The data from SESAI regarding mortality are not less alarming. Such data indicate that respiratory diseases, particularly the infectious ones, were responsible for 15.3% of the total number of indigenous individuals deaths recorded in that same year, about two times the mortality rate for those diseases in the general population. Those indicators might be improved with the implementation of actions of basic attention to health involving the indigenous popu-