Abstract

The Amazon has uncontacted indigenous peoples in its forests. To remain away from contemporary civilisation these tribes may be interpreted as the invisible population of the forests. Indian uncontacted is a legal concept that defines human populations from pre-Columbian culture that have remained geographically and culturally distant from the western population. Its demographic composition are unknown, registering only some evidence of their existence and meagre or no evidence of their material culture, customs and languages (Azanha, Gilberto. FUNAI—Mimeo, 2006). The Indian Protection Service of National Indian Foundation—SPI/FUNAI finds that between 1910 and 1957, of the 105 known isolates indians, 72 were contacted and one third of those contacted were extinct. It is estimated that currently about 33 indigenous peoples remain uncontacted. At the time, especially measles and epidemic influenza were the main causes of the extermination of tribes contacted, currently the diseases that most affect the indigenous population are malaria and hepatitis. (Ribeiro, Darcy, 1996). The study describes the current situation and discusses strategies for preventing and controlling diseases in areas inhabited by these Indians in Brazil. The method establishes the parameters of health risks and establishing a surveillance system for the actions of prevention and control of these risk factors to health in these areas.