The Doutores Das Águas ambulance boat goes upstream against the current, bringing treatment and medical assistance to the most isolated villages of the Amazon River basin. Weeks of navigation, dozens of stops to visit around 2000 natives in each expedition. For many of them it is the only opportunity to meet a doctor or a dentist and the only opportunity to obtain basic medicines for their own well-being and that of their children.
Normally, the boat is full of volunteers: doctors, nurses, dentists, dental technicians, educators and animators form a team of 50 people on board. This year, due to the restrictions imposed by the anti-Covid protocols, the medical team was reduced to personnel with double doses of the vaccine and the activities were rethought in line with the anti-contagion security measures to avoid gatherings and contain the spread of the virus.
The staff, reduced to 20 specialists, offered specialist visits, dental and minor surgery, medication, ordinary vaccines as well as tests for hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases, the latter of which (in particular syphilis) were found with a higher incidence than what emerged from the screening carried out in 2019.
Amazônia supports health actions with the aim of promoting the improvement of health indicators and the quality of life among the peoples of the forest.
For this reason, we also support the vaccination campaign against Covid19. In collaboration with the Health Departments, we work to raise awareness among the population, keep the natives informed about the arrival of vaccines and support the transport costs of the most isolated families to vaccination places.
A special thanks to ACQUASAN for allowing the trip of the “river doctors”!
Watch the video of the trip!
