Dozens of Yanomami children hospitalized in northern Brazil amid health crisis

A nurse talks to a mother belonging to the Yanomami indigenous group, whose son is treated for malnutrition at the special yard for indigenous people of the Santo Antonio Children's Hospital, in Boa Vista, Roraima state, Brazil, January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

BOA VISTA, Brazil (Reuters) -Dozens of indigenous children suffering from malnutrition and acute diseases have been hospitalized in northern Brazil, with relatives in hammocks holding their emaciated frames in scenes that underscore the gravity of a public health crisis.

The health secretary of Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, said on Friday that 59 indigenous children were currently at the only pediatric hospital in the state, 45 of them from the Yanomami people. Eight were under intensive care.