Indigenous health: contribution of the Hepatology Section from Instituto Evandro Chagas since the 1980s

Abstract

The first studies carried out in the Instituto Evandro Chagas (IEC) involving indigenous populations are dated from the late 1980s, when cases of hepatitis B and D in the Munduruku indigenous ethnicity were diagnosed serologically. From that event, several studies were conducted involving viral hepatitis among indigenous groups in the Brazilian Amazon, as well as a study of hepatic capillariasis in indigenous groups of Mato Grosso State. The aim of this study was to present the researches at the Hepatology Section of the IEC, from the 1980s to nowadays. This study was developed based on publications from the scientific collection of IEC and in papers published in journals. Eleven studies that involved the indigenous ethnic groups Munduruku Yanomami Kanamary, Jamamadi, Parakanã, Nambikwara, Kithãulu, Negarotê and Xikrin were selected, which revealed their health condition. These researches showed health problems of Indians from different ethnic groups in the Amazon, contributing to the knowledge of liver diseases in these populations in order to control and monitor them.