A chance encounter between an American economist and a Brazilian medical student in 1987 sparked a humanitarian mission that has delivered over $1 billion in medical supplies to underserved communities worldwide.
Volunteer doctors navigate rivers on the Amazon in converted boats, bringing life-saving healthcare to isolated communities where the nearest hospital is eight hours away.
As climate change intensifies droughts in the Amazon rainforest, traditional midwives like Tabita dos Santos Moraes become lifelines for pregnant women in remote communities where once-navigable rivers have shrunk to impassable streams, making the journey to hospitals dangerous or impossible.
Patricia Neves and Ana Paula Ano Bom, researchers at Brazil’s Bio-Manguinhos Fiocruz Foundation, are spearheading an initiative to create accessible mRNA vaccines, aiming to address global health disparities and combat emerging diseases.
In this short film from Brazil, we listen to nurses talk about the challenges they faced during the early days of the pandemic.