O neoliberalismo como linguagem política da pandemia: a Saúde Coletiva e a resposta aos impactos sociais

Public health and communication: impasses facing Brazil's National Health System in democratic public opinion formation

This article discusses the political relations between construction of Brazil's national health system (SUS) and communication. Understanding communication as an underdeveloped field of citizens' rights in Brazil, it proceeds on the hypothesis that the democratic formation of public opinion regarding the SUS is hindered by a media oligopoly in the telecommunication and journalism system. This affects relations between the forces in dispute over construction of the SUS. Drawing on analysis of opinion polls and studies of Brazilian media coverage of the SUS, it argues that communication is a key political determinant in building a social base in support of the SUS and overcoming the impasses identified by the literature. It concludes that the relationship among communication, politics and democracy challenges the SUS to dispute the formation of a public health awareness in the daily lives of Brazilian citizens, as expressed by Giovanni Berlinguer to Brazil's nascent health sector reform movement in the 1970s.

Contested leadership and the governance of COVID-19 in Brazil: The role of local government and community activism

Strong public health governance and leadership driven by scientific evidence, community participation, and attention to social and structural determinants of health are key to effective covid-19 containment. Given the failure of the federal government in Brazil to adopt effective public health measures, state and municipal governments, as well as community activists, have stepped in to fill the void. This essay examines the synergistic role that local governments, public universities, public health institutions and mutual aid initiatives have played in Brazil to advance pandemic control and mitigate the damaging effects of central government policies and neglect. Drawing on literature, media reports, and insights from journalists and activists based in Rio's favelas, we show how grass roots groups take actions that bear complex and vital relationships with local governments, NGOs, universities, and public health institutions. Effective local public health governance goes beyond technical public health responses and involves strategies for countering chronic marginalisation and disempowerment of local communities which open new pathways for creative intermunicipal collaboration, social change, power redistribution. It remains to be seen if actions and emerging networks at the local level can exert pressure on national government while not further exacerbating the polarising politicisation of the pandemic.