At Work Around the World

Brazil

In the rain forests of Brazil, the Yanomami people are an important part of an international effort to eradicate a painful, blinding disease called onchocerciasis.

 
Building Hope

Brazil is known for many things: the Amazon rain forest, coffee, and its economic and political dominance in South America. Brazil is also part of an international movement to eradicate a painful and debilitating form of preventable blindness, onchocerciasis, in Latin America in this decade.


Fighting Disease
Eliminating Onchocerciasis From the Americas

Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, is endemic to six countries in the Americas. In Brazil, it is found in only two states - Amazonia and Roraima. Endemic areas in Brazil affect approximately 9,000 Brazilians in 17 communities, some of which are extremely difficult to reach.

Endemic areas that border Venezuela are among the hardest to access. Sometimes boats or rafts, which are the most common form of transportation to reach program areas, are unsuitable for the terrain. To provide health education and medicine in these isolated communities, short-term consultants have had to hire helicopters, donkeys, and guides.
One of the populations at greatest risk in Brazil is the Yanomami people, whose settlements in inaccessible areas of the Amazon rain forest and river basin complicate prevention efforts.

Reaching even the most remote endemic areas is vitally important to regional eradication of onchocerciasis. Almost 9,000 people are at risk for developing permanent blindness from onchocerciasis. With continued health education and distribution of Mectizan, these communities will experience a tremendous difference in their quality of life.

When the program began in 1996, Brazil administered only 1,276 Mectizan® treatments. This number was vastly short of the need at that time, as the eligible population of 4,500 required twice yearly Mectizan treatments to prevent the onset of permanent blindness. 

Since then, with support from The Carter Center, intervention efforts have grown and surpassed the 85 percent treatment coverage goal for the eigth consecutive year.  In 2008, Brazil provided 15,576 treatments, which was 91 percent of the treatment goal.  Such tremendous success distributing this much-needed medication means these people will never have to face a future without sight as a result of river blindness.

Brazil's work and dedication to eradicating onchocerciasis are encouraging as the fight to eliminate the disease in Latin America wages onward. However, it remains imperative that the international community continues its support of Brazil as the Ministry of Health continues efforts to stop the disease. Migratory peoples, such as the Yanomami, may miss treatment distribution and health education due to their nomadic lifestyles if more is not done to assure that they can receive information on how to prevent the disease.

Ultimately, the future looks bright for Brazil. Someday soon, the elimination of river blindness may be a success story Brazil and the rest of the Americas can share to inspire the rest of the world.

Learn more about the Center's River Blindness Program.

 UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2009


Waging Peace
Exploring a Hemispheric Agenda

Carter Center representatives met with leaders in Brazil as part of a fact-finding tour Jan. 15-26, 1997, to prepare for the consultation "Agenda for the Americas for the 21st Century." The delegation included former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; Rosalynn Carter; Dr. Robert Pastor, then director of the Center's Americas Program; and Americas Program Director Dr. Jennifer McCoy. Meetings were held with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and other government officials as well as with representatives of Congress, nongovernmental organizations, and human rights groups. The mission, which included stops in Argentina, Chile, and Jamaica, helped to set the agenda for discussions at the April 1997 consultation at The Carter Center.

Ambassador Ronaldo Sardenberg, minister of strategic affairs, represented President Cardoso at the consultation in Atlanta.

Learn more about the Carter Center's Americas Program.