MSF´s response to COVID-19 in Brazil has been one of its biggest operations along the fight against the pandemic, especially in the country’s northernmost part. But it was not the first time the organization worked in that region. The origins of our field work there go back to the early 1990´s, when we sent teams to the Amazon to respond to epidemics among the indigenous population.

One of our earliest projects took place in the northern state of Roraima, where we trained members of the local indigenous communities as microscopists and indigenous health agents to support the response to a malaria epidemic. A key indigenous leader who helped us with the project was Jacir de Souza, a former director of the local Roraima indigenous council and an important player in their struggle for land rights.

After more than two decades, Jacir´s life story was reconnected to MSF, when he received treatment for COVID-19 from our staff at the Boa Vista field hospital, where we supported medical activities, including in the ICU, between the end of June and the beginning of September. Jacir´s story highlights the importance of MSF´s recent activities, in order to minimize the impact of the disease on more vulnerable populations. It also shows the long-term benefits of our actions, as some of the people we trained in the 1990´s are still working with indigenous health in Roraima.