FUNDING CUT BACKS
- Dec 7, 2016
- 1 min read
In 2014, the budget was cut 534 million dollars towards indigenous programs over the next five years. More specifically, 160 million dollars will of the cuts will be taken from indigenous health programs (Coggan, 2014). The funding cutbacks have hurt the indigenous populations and their resources continue to be limited. The government's involvement in the public health care system allows them to make decisions about where the funding will go. The government, as a result, has begun to privatize some heath care services and insurances which will create an even larger gap in health inequality (Political Upheaval, 2016). The government also initiated “to completely remove the current obligation of federal and municipal governments to dedicate a specified amount of funding for healthcare” (Political Upheaval, 2016). The health care system states that it will provide for everyone but there are holes in the system that neglect the poor, indigenous and “uncivilized” populations. Budget cuts not only cut their health care resources but also their protection.
Protection decreases with the hits to the budget and for indigenous tribes, that means that there is less protection for their lands. FUNAI, which is the National Indian Foundation for Brazil that “carries out policies relating to indigenous peoples" (FUNAI, 2016) and helps maintain the invasion of outsiders has had to deal with budget cuts as well. They are in charge of protecting the lands and if there are less people able to do that, people can come in and pass diseases and illnesses to the indigenous populations (Watts, 2016).
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