A
PARTILHA
By
Marie-Noelle Rondot
In a Latin America
Press magazine, I once read about two interesting facts. The first was
that $11 billion was needed per year to provide water and sanitation
for people in developing nations while the US spent $10 billion annually
on cosmetics. Secondly, $15 billion was needed per year to cover basic
health and nutrition needs in developing countries while $19 billion
was being spent annually in Europe and the US on pet food.
These are statistics
dating back several years. One wonders what they would be like today.
In any case, they clearly demonstrate the difference in priorities from
one reality to another.
This incites
me to comment on what I have personally observed in the area of health,
for instance, throughout my time in Brazil. As much as one would like
to see and say things differently, it cannot be denied that our health
system is appalling! Of course I am aware of the fact that something
similar could likely be said of many other countries — including
First World countries.
For instance,
Brazil is known to have the highest incidence of AIDS and tuberculosis
among all Latin American countries. This could take a long time to change
as long as health coverage and adequate medical assistance are available
only to those who are considered the “privileged ones.”
In São
José da Laje, where we live, one could guess that 80 per cent
of the population does not have medical coverage. This factor undoubtedly
determines the quality of care a person receives when she is sick.
To
us, it seems that poor people have been blessed with an “overdose”
of patience, which definitely makes them “experts” at waiting.
They wait for hours in a lineup to get to see a doctor. Often they wait
for months before the most ordinary test can be done and before results
are at last processed. Then whenever the person is fortunate enough
to be able to consult a doctor again, she may go home with a prescription,
but what good is a prescription to someone with no medical care plan
and no money?
What is sad
about this is that many die unnecessarily, or perhaps I should say,
too soon, before a diagnosis has ever been made. A recent example of
this was a 24-year-old woman who developed a severe infection. When
she did seek medical assistance, she was given an injection of antibiotics
at the local hospital emergency department, along with a prescription
and was sent home without a single medical test having been ordered.
She died five days later, leaving behind a husband and four children.
The youngest was two months old.
Many deaths
could be prevented if people were treated equally and not according
to their social status.
So far I have
referred to people who have close to nothing financially and what it
is like for them to deal with illness. However, there is the other category
of people who have some financial resources, even though limited. Many
of these, when ill, often have the tendency to turn to medications without
consulting a doctor and before too long have created a certain dependency.
Why does this happen so easily?
Many medications
in this country can simply be bought over the counter, from antibiotics
to analgesic and anti-hypertensive medications.
An inadequate
health care system makes self-medication a more attractive option. It
is estimated that about half of the Brazilian population self-medicates
regularly. The individual relies on the “good advice” of
a friend, a family member or a pharmacist. The advice is based on the
principle that if this medication worked so well for me, it will work
for you too.
When you walk
on any street of any city in Brazil, you can be sure that what you will
see most is shoe stores and pharmacies. Five years ago, according to
the World Health Organization, Brazil needed approximately 30,000 pharmacies
to adequately serve its population, but had 53,000 of them.
It is also known
that drug companies offer monetary rewards to pharmacists for higher
sales and that some pharmacies offer discounts to frequent purchasers.
In spite of
what I’ve said, it is true that over the years we have also noticed
some progressive changes taking place in the health care field in our
city. This indicates that our present government is attempting to deal
with this complex issue. To us, however, it seems a slow process when
confronted daily with people who really struggle with life and death
issues.
“You must
get near enough to the suffering to feel it, but not so close as to
get lost and overwhelmed by it,” says a quote from M.J. Meadows.
Not necessarily easy to do but good to remember.
Articles from the Saskatoon Diocesan Brazil Mission Team appear under the heading A Partilha, the Brazilian word for sharing.
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