"No time to waste" as Brazil's COVID-19 crisis escalates

Hundreds of MSF staff have been involved in treating patients with COVID-19 in Brazil. Many of them are Brazilians with a great deal of international experience in MSF projects, who, for the first time, have been asked to respond to a crisis in their own country.

We have worked in several Brazilian states, assisting homeless people, migrants, indigenous communities, and people in prisons. In the north of the country, we supported the local health systems in Amazonas and Roraima states, and have just started a project in Rondonia to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a lack of clear and cohesive direction from the authorities with regard to social distancing, lockdowns, the use of masks, and even vaccinations. Too often, messages from public officials have discouraged people from using masks or getting vaccinated. The authorities invested public resources to promote treatments that were not effective against the disease.

MSF’s experience in previous epidemics has taught us that difficult but necessary measures are most easily accepted and adopted when they are introduced to people in a clear and cohesive manner. It may seem obvious, but what’s obvious bears repeating in this moment: Overcoming the pandemic and reducing its social and economic impact will only be possible with solidarity and actions taken by the whole society.

We recognize the essential value and role of the Brazilian public health system in responding to this health crisis. In the places where we work together, we have seen the excellent work of health professionals, but we know that the system is being pushed to its absolute limit. The excessive workload has left many health professionals of all specialties with mental health problems.

“Now is high time to act”

Even in the face of such a difficult situation, we believe that there are ways to reduce the cost of human lives that we are paying during the pandemic.

The health authorities can improve testing practices by adopting PCR tests on a larger scale or, in their absence, rapid antigen tests. These tests detect whether the person has the virus and, with this information, it is possible to efficiently isolate them. Rapid antibody tests, widely used in Brazil, are not suitable in many cases because a person can test positive and no longer have the active virus.

The vaccination program unfortunately had a slow start and we do not know when a considerable part of the population will be immunized. As such, it is essential that we maintain proper hygiene, social distancing, and the use of masks, actions that depend on the engagement of each and every one of us.

In addition to those actions, Brazil must immediately adopt collective measures that reduce the movement of people, while guaranteeing that vulnerable groups have the basic means of subsistence in compensation for the interruption of their economic activities.

In this way, we will reduce the spread of the virus. If the contagion is not reduced, it will certainly cause an increase in the number of patients with COVID-19 in a short span of time, which will further tax an already overwhelmed health system.

That is why, more than ever, we must unite behind the necessary measures to avoid an even greater escalation in the number of cases and deaths that can happen in a few weeks. As a medical organization, it is our duty to speak out about the deaths that can be avoided. Everyone—both individuals and those with public power—has no more time to waste. Now is high time to act.