By Terry Wade SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Health problems among Indian tribes in Brazil are rising and threatening communities as the indigenous population grows, according to tribal advocates. Malaria infections have risen, especially among the Yanomami tribe. Children of the Guarani Kaiowa tribe have died of malnutrition. And sexually transmitted diseases have popped up on the Xingu reservation, according to the Instituto Socioambiental, an aide group that works with tribes. Hepatitis and deaths from snake bites on the upper Rio Negro river also plague indigenous communities, the group said, drawing its conclusions from government data. Beto Ricardo, editor of a book the aide group launched this week on Indian health, blame "excessive bureaucracy and political influence" at government health agency Funasa for getting in the way of providing care. But the government says Indian health is improving thanks to 290 million reais ($135 million) it transferred to 34 Indian health districts last year. It is holding its first national exposition on Indian health this week to tout its successes and defend itself from criticism. "The work of health professionals who work in indigenous communities often goes unnoticed because they develop programs in isolated locales," Funasa President Paulo Lustosa said on Tuesday. "This will be an opportunity to show the true situation of indigenous health in Brazil," Lustosa said. Rates of some infections have increased in several tribes even as the Indian population grows. Populations of some tribes, like the Xavantes, rose because of higher fertility rates while others, such as the Pataxo, increased because more people opted to call themselves Indians on census forms. The indigenous population rose 150 percent to 734,000 during the nine years to 2000, when the government published its last census. The Indian population was an estimated 5 million when Portuguese explorers arrived in 1500 on the shores of what became Brazil. Over the centuries they suffered enslavement, extermination campaigns, disease and neglect. ($1 = 2.15 reais)
