The Quest to Extend Health Services to Vulnerable Substance Users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Context of an Unfolding Economic Crisis

dc.creatorKrawczyk, Noa
dc.creatorKerrigan, Deanna
dc.creatorBastos, Francisco Inácio Pinkusfeld Monteiro
dc.date2023-04-26T16:24:10Z
dc.date2023-04-26T16:24:10Z
dc.date2017
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-26T20:40:20Z
dc.date.available2023-09-26T20:40:20Z
dc.identifierKRAWCZYK, Noa; KERRIGAN, Deana; BASTOS, Francisco Inácio Pinkusfeld Monteiro. The Quest to Extend Health Services to Vulnerable Substance Users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Context of an Unfolding Economic Crisis. International journal of health services, v. 47, n. 3, p. 477-488, 2017.
dc.identifier0020-7314
dc.identifierhttps://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/58000
dc.identifier10.1177/0020731416679351
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorioslatinoamericanos.uchile.cl/handle/2250/8861721
dc.descriptionThis work was conducted with the support of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and by a grant by the National institute of Drug Abuse (T32-DA007293, PI: Renee Johnson).
dc.descriptionCalls to address crack-cocaine use in Brazil among homeless and street-frequenting populations who are in urgent need of health services have questioned the capacity of the Brazilian Unified Health System to attend to the nation’s most marginalized citizens. In recent years, Brazil has launched several actions to escalate care for substance users, yet many obstacles hindering accessibility and effectiveness of services remain. Paradoxically, these actions have been implemented in the context of a growing economic crisis, and expanding services for a population of poor and stigmatized substance users while cutting other government programs tends to elicit harsh criticism from citizens. In consequence of such prospects, this commentary aims to discuss barriers marginalized substance users face in accessing health services that are at risk of worsening with government cutbacks. Using Rio de Janeiro as an example, we explore two primary issues: the resource-strained, under-staffed and decentralized nature of the Brazilian Unified Health System and the pervading stigma that bars vulnerable citizens from official structures and services. Abandoning initiated government efforts to increase access to health services would risk maintaining vulnerable citizens at the margins of public structures, inhibiting the opportunity to offer this population humane and urgently needed treatment and care.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherConnecticut Greenwood Periodicals
dc.rightsopen access
dc.subjectSubstance abuse services
dc.subjectUniversal health
dc.subjectCrack-cocaine
dc.subjectMental health services
dc.subjectMarginalized groups
dc.titleThe Quest to Extend Health Services to Vulnerable Substance Users in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Context of an Unfolding Economic Crisis
dc.typeArticle


Este ítem pertenece a la siguiente institución