Mining and malaria in the Brazilian Amazon and in the Yanomami indigenous land

TL;DR

Illegal mining in Brazil's Amazon increased malaria among the Yanomami, causing a public health crisis and significant costs.

Contribution

Quantifies the impact of illegal mining on malaria cases in the Yanomami indigenous land using statistical analysis.

Findings

A 1% increase in mining area correlates with a 24% rise in malaria cases among the Yanomami.

Malaria cases in 2022 were likely underreported by 83% in the Yanomami region.

An estimated 102,870 excess malaria cases occurred from 2018 to 2023 due to mining.

Abstract

Illegal mining expanded in the Brazilian Amazon since 2018, leading to increases in malaria among indigenous populations, particularly the Yanomami. We describe the temporal and spatial pattern of malaria and mining in indigenous lands and quantify the impact of mining on malaria among the Yanomami. We estimate that a 1% increase in the annual mining area was associated with a 24% (95% CrI: 17%, 32%) increase in monthly malaria cases in the Yanomami. Also, malaria cases in 2022 in the Yanomami were likely underreported by 83%, and an estimated excess of 102,870 malaria cases occurred from 2018 to 2023 due to increased mining activity (an additional cost to the public health system of approximately US$6.9 million). Rethinking and intensifying malaria control in Brazil is a matter of health, environmental, and indigenous justice.

The expansion of illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon, and particularly in indigenous lands, has produced severely negative environmental and health externalities. One major health concern is a rising malaria burden among indigenous populations, particularly in the Yanomami indigenous lands, where a humanitarian crisis arose following illegal mining activity. Mining creates highly fragmented forests rife with the ideal habitat for malaria vectors to proliferate. In the Yanomami Indigenous Land, illegal mining grew rapidly from 2018 to 2022 and coincided with a sharp increase in malaria cases. Most malaria cases were linked to zones near mining and along the travel routes used by miners. We found that malaria cases among the Yanomami people are likely greater than official reporting. In 2022, for example, our analysis suggests there were nearly twice as many local malaria cases as the official reports showed. This underreporting may be linked to the destruction of health posts meant to serve indigenous populations. We also found that if mining had not increased beyond 2017 levels, roughly 100,000 fewer malaria cases may have been avoided between 2018 and 2023. These extra cases impose financial burdens on health systems, the Brazilian government, and undue harm to the Yanomami people and their culture. Lasting solutions will require stronger enforcement against illegal mining, better protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights, and close cooperation among sectors like health, law enforcement, and the environment.

Figures