Drought and disease threaten Peru's Matsés
A health crisis driven by drought, disease, and state neglect is endangering the recently contacted Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon, with low rivers
A severe health emergency is unfolding for the Indigenous Matsés people in the Peruvian Amazon. A convergence of drought, epidemic disease, and state neglect is putting the community at risk.
Gabay traveled to the region to investigate environmental threats but found communities grappling with outbreaks of malaria and hepatitis B. She reports that interviews with residents repeatedly turned to the immediate crisis of people dying.
The legacy of contact
The Matsés officially initiated contact with evangelical missionaries in 1969. This move was an attempt to escape violence from rubber tappers, loggers, and military bombardments. However, contact exposed them to infectious diseases for which they had no immunological defenses.
Roberto Necca Tumio Unan, a Matsés elder born before contact, told Gabay that entire families began dying shortly after from previously unknown illnesses.
Drought compounds the crisis
Now, a new threat is making the health situation worse. Drought in the Amazon has caused river levels to drop drastically. These rivers are the primary transit routes in the roadless region.
Low water restricts all boat navigation. This prevents healthcare workers from reaching remote villages. It also blocks sick villagers from traveling to get medical care.
Matsés chief Leo Chuma Teca Beso traveled to Iquitos and Lima to plead for state intervention. He reported that sick community members are dying on the streets from advanced hepatitis B complications like cirrhosis.
Challenges in aid and diagnosis
Peru's Ministry of Health (MINSA) has previously reported zero hepatitis B deaths among the Matsés. Chief Leo said this figure reflects a critical lack of testing, not an absence of the disease.
Civil society health brigades have so far screened only about 20% of the population. In that limited sample, they identified 17 hepatitis B cases. Ministry officials cited budget constraints and geographic remoteness as reasons for delays in healthcare aid.
A wider regional threat
The Matsés territory lies within the 16-million-hectare Yavari-Tapiche territorial corridor. Several other Indigenous groups live in isolation in this area.
Gabay warns that if people are forced to move due to disease or drought, they risk encountering illegal operations. These include oil extraction, logging, and mining. Such encounters could expose isolated groups to more diseases.
"The moment there is an unhealthy environment, that automatically leads to more disease," Gabay says. The Matsés depend entirely on rivers for transport, with some journeys to the closest village taking up to two days.
