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MSF works in shelter with vulnerable victims of disastrous floods in the south of Brazil
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Our teams are working to improve medical care for migrants and asylum seekers from Venezuela, as well as local communities.

Our activities are concentrated in the capital city, Boa Vista, and at the border town of Pacaraima, where most Venezuelans arrive to Brazil.   

We provide medical consultations, mental health assistance, and run health promotion activities. We reach our patients through mobile clinics at migrant hotspots, visits shelters and offer support to local health facilities. 

Our activities in 2023 in Brazil

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2023.

MSF in Brazil in 2023 Médecins Sans Frontières teams in Brazil deliver healthcare to hard-to-reach communities, who are often cut off from services due to the difficulty of the terrain and a shortage of healthcare workers.
Brazil IAR map 2023

In Roraima state, we work in the Yanomami Indigenous Land (YIL), in the Auaris region, offering general healthcare and treatment for malaria. In the state capital, Boa Vista, we provide medical consultations and mental health support at the health centre for Yanomami people.

The YIL is the country's largest Indigenous territory, and has been under a declared health emergency since 2023. Since then, we have supported the Ministry of Health to respond to the crisis linked, among other reasons, to environmental degradation caused by illegal mining. Not only have traditional fishing areas been damaged, contributing to food insecurity, but the land has been scarred with holes that fill with rainwater, creating ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes and the spread of malaria.

Meanwhile, in the northern state of Pará, we opened a new project in Portel, an Amazonian town about 16 hours by boat from the state capital, Belém, to assist communities who face difficulties in accessing healthcare. Riverside communities are particularly affected due to their remoteness from health facilities and a lack of professional healthcare workers. Working alongside the municipal health department, we aim to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services, general and mental health care, and support for victims and survivors of sexual violence.

In addition to these activities, we launched an emergency response to assist people affected by flooding in the Taquari valley, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the second half of the year. For around three months, we gave training to local psychologists and health, education and social assistance staff. We also provided hygiene kits and other health promotion activities for people who had to move into shelters.

At the end of the year, we concluded our activities supporting Venezuelan migrants living in Roraima. For five years, we provided medical and mental health services in Boa Vista and Pacaraima, on the Venezuelan border.

 

In 2023
 
Severe floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul
Brazil

Unprecedented flooding in Brazil leaves millions affected and hundreds of thousands displaced

Project Update 20 May 2024
 
Venezuelan migrants and refugees in northern Brazil
Brazil

Venezuelan migrants left without healthcare, shelter and services

Project Update 14 Dec 2021
 
Mobile clinics in Fortaleza, Brazil
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic threatens to deteriorate in Brazil as 500,000 deaths recorded

Project Update 30 Jun 2021
 
MSF response to COVID-19 in Porto Velho - Rondonia
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

Failed COVID-19 response drives Brazil to humanitarian catastrophe

Press Release 15 Apr 2021
 
Regional hospital of Tefé
Brazil

COVID-19 leaves Amazonas health system saturated, overloaded and struggling

Project Update 21 Jan 2021
 
Home visit at indigenous village of Limao Verde
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

MSF works to prevent spread of COVID-19 among indigenous people in Mato Grosso do Sul

Project Update 17 Sep 2020