Spotlight on Brazil

[Contessa_Sharra]

Brazil is an interesting country. The Olympics will put a spotlight on the country. As for the exact hows and why of Brazil, and Rio being chosen, who knows exactly. However, here is one I like: Besides being in a continent never before chosen, and despite many problems in the country itself, and with the system, Brazil has something that the US does not, Brazil is trying hard, and their country is not only all about Carnival:

Health Care System

In the 1980s there was a strong social movement in Brazil - the movement for Sanitary Reform- that was fundamental in restructuring the health care system. It led, in 1988, to the creation of the Unified Health Care System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS), which is based on the principles of universality, integrality and equity. The SUS is part of the Brazilian constitution, determining health care as a universal right and a federal responsibility.
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[editec]

No Olympic event has ever occured in South America.

It's time for that to happen.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Carnival in Rio is an Olympic Event. At the start of it, my uncles would kiss my Grandmother goodbye and say "See you again in 4 days"

 

[Oddball]

But moooooooommmmmmmmmmmm....Those swarthy Brazilians have socialized medical services toooooooooooooo!!

Oh, brother!

 

[Anguille]

I just read an article about Rio de Janeiro in which a city councilor speaking about the high crime rate said, "Rio is completely schizophrenic. Everybody's very p.c." " It's all Scandinavian talk in an Iraqi reality."

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Rio needs a Mayor like Rudy. That's all I want to say about it

 

[dilloduck]

As long as they show chicks on the beach between events it outta be great.

 

[Anguille]

Rio needs a Mayor like Rudy. That's all I want to say about it

Rio would eat him alive.

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

As long as they show chicks on the beach between events it outta be great.

Thinking with your dick will get you in trouble.

The history of AIDS in Brazil

Although it was first declared a republic in 1889, Brazil spent most of the following century under a series of military dictatorships. It was under the last of these dictatorships, at a time when citizen groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were expanding and becoming more outspoken in their calls for change, that the country’s first AIDS case was recorded in 1982. 4 Although relatively few cases of HIV were recorded over the next few years, these civil society groups made sure that the government was quick to act and did not ignore the problem. As the country moved closer to democracy, they encouraged a climate of social solidarity, allowing open and frank debate about HIV and AIDS.

Brazil's AIDS epidemic was initially concentrated in large cities such as Sao Paulo.

“We were living under the dictatorship, so little groups formed but not just political ones. They were responding to larger, deeper issues of repression, with worldwide implications. We were trapped in a symbolic prison; homosexuals had to hide, to live in very closed circles. The right to the body was bound up with the issue of democracy.” Wildenay Contrera, AIDS Prevention and Support Group5
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In 1985, the same year that democracy was restored to Brazil, the government set up the National AIDS Program (NAP) in partnership with civil society groups. This program initially focused on distributing information about HIV and AIDS, especially to high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM), who accounted for many of the country’s first HIV infections. 6 In the same year, the AIDS Prevention and Support Group (known as GAPA in Brazil) was set up as the first Brazilian HIV and AIDS NGO. By this time, the rate of new HIV infections was rapidly increasing.

Several similar groups were set up in the following years, including Grupo Pela Vidda (‘Group for Life’), the country’s first self-identified group for people living with HIV. Groups such as this put pressure on politicians to improve treatment and care for people living with HIV.

“The important thing was solidarity, full participation by everyone based on respect for differences, fighting for full citizenship, not just for HIV-positive people, but for everyone facing a situation of vulnerability.” Veriano Terto, Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA)7
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In 1988, a new Constitution of Brazil was established, with a heavy focus on human rights. The Constitution was very significant to people living with HIV, since it included articles that gave them legal protection against discrimination and defended their right to free healthcare. Legal guidelines on how these articles could be applied to people living with HIV were subsequently established, including Legal Opinion CFM No.14/88, which set out ethical guidelines for the management of HIV/AIDS in relation to professionals such as doctors, physicians and researchers. 8



and


Tensions between Brazil and the United States

Among those who criticised Brazil’s treatment campaign for the pressure it put on pharmaceutical companies was the United States government. In February 2001 the U.S. issued a complaint to the World Trade
Organisation, claiming that Brazil’s threats to manufacture generic ARVs undermined the intellectual property rights of drug companies. By forcing companies to lower their prices, the U.S. argued, Brazil was discouraging the drug industry from researching and producing new ARVs. In response, the Brazilian government argued that western drug firms could easily afford to reduce their prices. They also pointed out that the vast profits such companies make in richer countries (where patenting laws are more restrictive) provide enough incentive for them to continue ARV production regardless of what happens in poorer countries. The U.S. eventually dropped their complaint, perhaps due to pressure from the United Nations.44 45


Brazil’s HIV prevention policies, such as its focus on condom promotion, have also been a point of dispute. When working with developing countries, the U.S. government generally encourages them to adopt an ‘ABC’ approach to HIV prevention, which promotes abstinence and being faithful to one partner as well as condom use. Although Brazil does incorporate these other messages into its prevention schemes, it has placed a heavy emphasis on condom use and refused to stick to an ABC approach. This has been a source of conflict with U.S. officials. 46

On top of this, the Brazilian government's focus on preventing HIV amongst sex workers has clashed with the U.S. policy of refusing aid to any HIV and AIDS prevention schemes that do not explicitly oppose the sex trade. In 2005, the Brazilian government refused the US government’s offer of $40 million funding for HIV and AIDS programs, as it would have required them to state that they are against the practice of commercial sex work.47 As Katia Guimaraes from the National AIDS program stated, this was not viable in Brazil:

“Prostitutes are very major partners in this program. They work along with us. We could never say that we are against prostitution, because it is not illegal in Brazil. It’s a tolerated, regulated profession.”48
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Then there is the over all thing going on in Brazil:

Advances in Development
An industrial power, ninth world GDP measured by purchasing power parity (PPP, 2007), with the largest population in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the past few years Brazil has reached important economic, social and environmental advances, including macroeconomic stability and significant reductions in poverty, income inequality and in deforestation rates in the Amazon. The country is also increasing its participation in the international community, assuming a leadership role in areas such as climate change, trade, biofuels, AIDS, biodiversity and social technology. The World Bank is a partner of Brazil in many of these achievements and initiatives.

While the sound macroprudential policies in place are helping the country cope with the global downturn, growth prospects for 2009 are low: down from 5.1 percent in 2008 to about 0.5 percent in 2009. The Brazilian Government is responding to the crisis with an expanded social security net and increased investment plans in infrastructure and housing. Before the crisis, Brazilians are benefiting for the first time in a generation from stable economic growth, low inflation rates and improvements in social well-being. Since 2004, the Brazilian Government has coupled stable macroeconomic management with well-directed social policies. This double focus had good results. In recent years, sustained by strong commodity prices, the economy has grown strongly, averaging 4.8 percent between 2004 and 2008, well above average annual grow (of just below 2.5 percent) in recent decades.

Brazil is well placed to weather the crisis with relatively moderate impacts to its macroeconomic or financial sector but it is experiencing a severe slowdown due to an abrupt decelerating of demand. At the same time, inflation rates remain under control at around 5.7% a year. The Country has accumulated foreign exchange reserves of approximately US$ 200 billion and there was a great drop in public debt vulnerability. Growth potential and continuous sound macroeconomic policies have led to achievement of an investment grade rating by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch in mid 2008. In this context, a main objective of the World Bank’s partnership with Brazil is to help the country create the conditions to recover and increase its growth after the crisis.

Improvements in the macroeconomic foundations came together with equally important advances in the social indicators. Since the nineties, the Country has practically achieved universal basic education, with 97% enrollment of children 7 to 14 years old. In recent years, there was an impressive reduction in poverty and inequality rates, reaching historically low figures. The poverty rate, as measured by a per capita income of half the local minimum wage (approximately US$ 6.5 per day), dropped from 39.4 percent of the population in 2003 to 30.3 percent in 2007, handily meeting the Millennium Development Goal. The drop was mainly due to higher economic growth, well targeted conditional cash transfer programs (such as the Bolsa Familia), as well as increases in labor income (especially minimum wages) and the decline in unemployment (from over 12 percent in 2003 to just below 9 percent in 2008). The Gini coefficient, which measures income concentration, continued to fall from 0.593 in 2003 to 0.552 in 2007, a 7% decline. Since 2005, Brazil has entered the group of countries with a high human development index (HDI) as measured by the UNDP. In 2006, Brazil had a HDI of 0.807 in a scale that goes from 0 (least developed) to 1 (most developed).

In the environmental area, the coordination of governmental efforts resulted in considerable reductions in Amazon deforestation. Deforestation rates measured by the DETER system declined from approximately 5,900 square kilometers in 2004 to 1,200 in 2006, and 649 square kilometers in 2008, a 27 percent reduction since 2007.


Brazil has achieved other important results in the improvement of life conditions:

• Income distribution – In 2004, the richest 10% of the population accounted for 44.6% of Brazil’s income. In 2007 this share had been reduced to 43.0% (PovcalNet)
• Illiteracy –10.4% of the country’s population over the age of 15 was illiterate in 2006. In 2007 this proportion had declined to 10.0%
• Infant mortality declined from around 50 per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 21.1 per 1000 in 2005.
• School enrollment in basic education rose from 85% in 1990 to 97% of the population between 7 and 14 years of age in 2005.

14 Percent of U.S. Adults Can't Read

By [URL="http://www.livescience.com/php/contactus/author.php?r=rb"]Robert Roy Britt[/URL], Editorial Director
posted: 10 January 2009 12:23 pm ET

About 14 percent of U.S. adults won't be reading this article. Well, okay, most people won't read it, given all the words that are published these days to help us understand and navigate the increasingly complex world.
But about 1 in 7 can't read it. They're illiterate.

Statistics released by the U.S. Education Department this week show that some 32 million U.S. adults lack basic prose literacy skill. That means they can't read a newspaper or the instruction on a bottle of pills.
The figures are for 2003, the latest year available. State and county results are available here.

 

[dilloduck]

that was one of the biggest "thinking with my dick" lectures I ever got. congrats !

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

I'm glad it works for you. And since you likely only have one, you should take care of it!

 

[dilloduck]

I'm glad it works for you. And since you likely only have one, you should take care of it!

bad night , contessa ?

 

[bodecea]

No Olympic event has ever occured in South America.

It's time for that to happen.

And I think that is the REAL reason Rio got picked. Fine. No problem with it.

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

I'm glad it works for you. And since you likely only have one, you should take care of it!

bad night , contessa ?

Why would you think that?

Just hate to see folks waste their resources, LOL....


Something we do here in the US a whole lot.... Most important one being our people. We so often act against self interest, because we are lazy and do not take our government in hand to act in our true self interest.

On the other hand, as per this discussion, Brazil has a lot to admire. Especially so, coming from what they did to where they seem to be going.

The complete World Bank article is a really good read. Check it out and compare.

And they are not so weird on race as we are, even with all their other issues!

 

[CrusaderFrank]

AIDS: maybe its worth it sometimes

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

AIDS: maybe its worth it sometimes

Well we can wish you the very best luck in acquiring what is "worth it."

 

[Oddball]

The OP premise must be the biggest non sequitur in USMB history.

I swear, the socialized medicine complainy-pantses could make a game of hopscotch about socialized medicine.

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

You are such a punk, and don't know what you were talking about.