Basic rights and public health in the Tapajós National Forest, Brazil

Communities in the Tapajós National Forest face significant challenges due to social inequalities that impact public health. Limited access to essential services, such as clean water, health care, and sanitation, exacerbates health disparities and violates the basic rights of its inhabitants. The Tapajós National Forest, a Conservation Unit that covers four municipalities, presents management difficulties due to several public policies. This research examines the living conditions of its residents, focusing on public health and the need for effective territory management. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through field notes, observations, interviews, and focus groups with residents and key stakeholders, including ICMBio and local cooperatives. The study area includes 14 communities in the Tapajós National Forest, and a simple random sampling technique ensured representativeness of the families. The results revealed significant barriers to accessing basic rights such as clean water, waste collection, and health services, aggravated by geographic isolation and poor infrastructure. Public health is severely impacted by these structural deficiencies, and the management of the conservation area is hindered by uneven service provision among municipalities. The study concludes that living conditions are precarious, directly affecting public health, and thus policies must provide essential services, balancing conservation with the needs of local development.