Published November 15, 2019
| Version v1
Journal article
Open
Development, environmental degradation, and disease spread in the Brazilian Amazon
Creators
- 1. Harvard University
- 2. Arizona State University
- 3. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
- 4. Imperial College London
- 5. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
- 6. Stanford University
- 7. Princeton University
- 8. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia
- 9. Barcelona Institute for Global Health
- 10. University of Chicago
- 11. Universidad de los Andes
Description
The Amazon is Brazil's greatest natural resource and invaluable to the rest of the world as a buffer against climate change. The recent election of Brazil's president brought disputes over development plans for the region back into the spotlight. Historically, the development model for the Amazon has focused on exploitation of natural resources, resulting in environmental degradation, particularly deforestation. Although considerable attention has focused on the long-term global cost of "losing the Amazon," too little attention has focused on the emergence and reemergence of vector-borne diseases that directly impact the local population, with spillover effects to other neighboring areas. We discuss the impact of Amazon development models on human health, with a focus on vector-borne disease risk. We outline policy actions that could mitigate these negative impacts while creating opportunities for environmentally sensitive economic activities.
Data availability
Data used to create Fig 1 are freely available. Malaria data obtained from the Brazilian Epidemiological Surveillance Information System for Malaria – SIVEP/Malaria: http://saude.gov.br/saude-de-a-z/malaria. Dengue data obtained from the Brazilian Notifiable Diseases Information System – SINAN: http://portalsinan.saude.gov.br/dados-epidemiologicos-sinan. Deforestation data available at: http://www.obt.inpe.br/prodes/.
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Additional details
Identifiers
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000526
- Other
- oai:uchicago.tind.io:6229
Funding
- National Science Foundation
- DBI-1639145