"Healthcare In the Amazon" is a composite of a couple of AidJoy videos. Its purpose is to introduce viewers to health care issues in the Peruvian Amazon as well as present a current and effective solution.

One thing this video does not address that we would like viewers to understand is WHY it is important to support the people of the Amazon rainforest. This is a discussion point that could be elaborated on for page after page but I'll try to keep it simple:

1. The Amazon rainforest produces one fifth of the Earth's oxygen and contains one fifth of the Earth's fresh water. This is the most important ecological resource on the planet!!!!

2. Currently huge areas of the Amazon are open to exploration, drilling, mining and logging activities, and exploitation of these resources is increasing rapidly. As we have witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, safety precautions and responses to accidents can be woefully inadequate, and there is serious risk of major damage, not only to the environment, but also to the health and welfare of the people who live in the Amazon.

3. The people who live in these remote regions serve as frontline defense against risky and irresponsible development and extractive activities. To be able to sustainably use and protect the ancestral lands they have used for generations, and to determine their own future rather than have it determined for them by corporate and political interests, these people need to be HEALTHY! When 50% or more of a community is stricken with malaria they have a very hard time taking the necessary steps to protect their land from intruders.

4. This effects ALL OF US!!! The absolute destruction of the Amazon rainforest is a very real possibility- In fact, it's a certainty if we do not address these issues! Please join AidJoy and Project Amazonas in our fight to prevent this from happening.

aidjoy.org/connect
projectamazonas.org/giving

Thank you for being a part of the solution!

Mike Bergen