Brazil launches program to bring drinking water to indigenous people

Over 400 thousand indigenous people in Brazil have no access to drinking water, and 55 percent of the country's villages have no guaranteed water quality. For this reason, the Ministry of Health launched on Thursday (Nov. 10) the National Program for Access to Drinking Water in Indigenous Lands. The plan foresees achieving universal access to treated water in villages throughout the country, within 20 years.

According to the program, new water collection and treatment systems shall be built, or remodeled, and expanded. Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said the main goal is to offer indigenous people access to quality water and to control diseases that cause diarrhea, especially among indigenous children. "This program is a public policy that was planned with technical criteria, and elaborated together with the indigenous community," the minister said.