22/12/2011 16:39:47

TELES PIRES SPONSORS EXPEDITION PROVIDING THE AMAZONIA INDIANS WITH MEDICAL AND SURGICAL CARE

CHTP (Companhia Hidrelétrica Teles Pires), responsible for constructing Teles Pires Hydropower Plant (HPP) on the boundary between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará, and the majority holder of Neoenergia, was the main sponsor of the 20th Surgical Expedition in Amazonia, held in November by the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Expedicionários da Saúde (EDS). The project was aimed at indigenous communities surrounding the HPP, featuring 179 surgeries, 1,507 medical appointments and 2,425 examinations and procedures.
The Expedition is part of the Program Operando na Amazônia and relied on a team made of 58 physicians who worked in a surgical center assembled in the middle of the Amazon forest. The 20th Expedition, which was also supported by Odebrecht Energia, was made on the indigenous land Sai Cinza, in the State of Pará, and covered patients from the ethnic groups Mundukuru, Kayabi and Apiacá.
The project was witnessed by the journalists of the TV show Profissão Repórter, broadcasted by Rede Globo, aired on December 20, 2011. They have shown the Expedition challenges and the project physicians¿ satisfaction (link for the TV article video). The teams have performed general, ophthalmologic (such as cataract removal) and orthopedic surgeries; in addition to appointments, examinations and procedures in the following areas: clinical medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics, orthopedics and odontology.
The Expedition has counted on 58 professionals, including, among others: ophthalmologists, general practitioners, anesthetists, orthopedists, gynecologists, nurses and dentists, besides the logistics and administrative personnel. ¿This expedition has had some peculiarities and logistic issues due to the difficulty to access many of the communities. Transporting patients from other Indigenous settlements to the base, located in the city of Jacareacanga (western section of the State of Pará), was only possible with a complex combination of water, road and air ways¿, said the president of Expedicionários da Saúde.
The special factor of Expedicionários da Saúde¿s activity is the use of a state-of-the-art mobile surgical center, offering medical care to indigenous communities even in the most remote places of Amazonia. Headquartered in Campinas (State of São Paulo), the Organization carries about 8t of equipment items in each expedition. Over eight years of activities in the region¿s Indigenous settlements, the group has already performed more than 2,600 surgeries.

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