Human migration and the spread of malaria in Brazil

Abstract

The Superintendencia de Companhas de Saúde Pública (SUCAM) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, is a large and powerful organization charged with implementing control strategies against the major endemic diseases of the country. Since 1958, using a combination of chemotherapy and measures against the onopheline vectors, SUCAM has succeeded in greatly diminishing the incidence o f malaria in the area under its control. But in recent years, the Amazon region (especially the northwestern states o f Rondônio and Pará) has seen a steady increase in malaria cases. In this article, Agostinho Cruz Marques explains how human migration into this region - associated with new agricultural settlements and small mines (garimpos) - has contributed to the increase, while travellers from this region can initiate new foci of active transmission in previously controlled areas elsewhere in the country. © 1987.