A universidade na atenção à saúde dos povos indígenas: a experiência do Projeto Xingu da Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Escola Paulista de Medicina

Abstract

After more than 40 years have passed since its creati- on, the Xingu Indigenous Park (XIP) is today a green island surrounded by large deforested and urbanized areas. The Xingu Project opened to Unifesp/EPM (Fe- deral University of São Paulo) an advanced field with a continuous, flexible and innovative model to insti- tutions dealing with the Health of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil. The results of the Xingu Project throughout four decades are revealed by demographic, epidemio- logical and operational indicators. Data from Unifesp/ EPM indicated that in 1970 the XIP’s population, in- cluding 16 ethnic groups, was approximately 1,220 individuals; for 2005, the estimated population is ap- proximately 5,000 individuals. No case of measles emerged in XIP in the last decade and the control of malaria produced a sharp decrease in the number of annual cases, with no recent registers of deaths. All this was achieved thanks to the immediate diagnosis and treatment enabled by the qualification of the AIS and AIE. As regards the threat of tuberculosis, which is always present, attention has been continually paid, according to data from DSEI-Xingu (MT). The ongo- ing epidemiological transition, associated with a sig- nificant increase in the number of elderly individu- als in XIP and with changes in lifestyle, has enhan- ced the actions of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chronic and non-transmissible diseases. Scientific production has accompanied and supported the deve- lopment of health actions throughout the years, in- cluding research lines from other knowledge areas in the