Number 361, July 31, 1999.
Visit our home page: http://www.oneworld.org/sejup/
In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Landless rural workers evicted from estate in Pará
- 60% of Brazil’s indigenous have diseases
- Youths revolt at juvenile detention center in São Paulo
- Workers decide to go back on strike at Ford factory
- São Paulo and Rio to launch new literacy program
- National truckers’ strike paralyzes major roads
WOMEN’S ISSUES: Maternal Mortality - The Shame of Negligence
NEWS BRIEFS
- Landless rural workers evicted from estate in Pará
In one of four "mega-operations," the military police evicted a group of rural workers connected with the MST (Movement of those Without Land) who were encamped on a large land estate in the state of Pará. One hundred and ten families had been living on the piece of property since April of this year. This is the third of such police operations in Pará. The police have been using 300-500 soldiers who are armed by tear gas, guns with rubber bullets, billy clubs, and shields. The families so far have decided not to resist, and so far there has been no violence during the evictions. The police are also getting ready to make one more eviction where 500 families are encamped.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 24, 1999
- 60% of Brazil’s indigenous have diseases
Nearly 210,000 of Brazil’s 350,000 indigenous population have contracted some forms of diseases, according to Dr. Oswaldo Cid of Funai’s (National Foundation for Indians) Department of Health. In some areas, the numbers are even higher. For example, 80% of the indigenous lands on the banks of the river Rio in the Amazon are infected with Hepatitis B and malaria. The infant mortality rate among the Ianomamis is 134.2 deaths per 1000 live births, nearly four times greater than the national average. Among other groups of people, like the Caiapó in the state of Mato Grosso, the problem is tuberculosis. Of the 670 Caiapó, 52 have the illness. A nurse from the region, Edmilson José Mocci said that what makes the problem worse is that there is only one nurse for nearly 2,000 indigenous. According to Dr. Cid, this is typical of the whole country: "Of the 32 doctors of Funai, only nine work directly in indigenous areas. [The government] has cut the R$60 million budget down to $R37 million, and this just doesn’t take care of the health of the indigenous and to do the other activities of Funai."
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 25, 1999
- Youths revolt at juvenile detention center in São Paulo
At the Tatuapé Febem (youth detention center) in São Paulo, youths revolted for three days, destroying offices, an infirmary, dining rooms, and kitchen facilities. Over 360 of the 1,450 inmates escaped; only 80 have been recaptured. Although motives for the revolt are still not perfectly clear, most certainly the overcrowded conditions fueled the revolt, if not the principal cause. In the Febem system, there is space for 2,510 youths--in June of this year, there were 4,104. Some also say that the Febems are simply incompetent in dealing with the youth. "These rebellions happen because the only thing the Febems know how to do is to call in the shock troops to put down the rebellion," said Fr. Júlio Lancellotti, a youth minister at the prison.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 26 &27, 1999
- Workers decide to go back on strike at Ford factory
Factory workers at the Ford truck plant in Ipiranga, São Paulo, decided to go back on strike to keep the plant from closing. Ford announced informally last week that it plans to close the Ipiranga plant. Many suspect that the company will move the plant’s operations to the new factory being planned in the state of Bahia. The company is saying that it will not transfer jobs out of the state of São Paulo, but the workers remain unconvinced. "Of course this is going to happen. It’s clear that Ford is not going to stay here," said Carlos Ortiz, president of the factory workers union of São Paulo. As of Thursday of this week, the strike has caused a loss of US$37 million in revenues for the company.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 24, 27 & 30, 1999
- São Paulo and Rio to launch new literacy program
Unemployment, violence, African rituals, and community gardens: these are a few of the themes chosen by teachers who are working on literacy projects for 20,000 youths and adults in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. These two states are the first of major metropolitan areas for a pilot program called "Literacy Solidarity." The program, already functioning in smaller cities in the North and Northeast of Brazil, uses themes from students’ daily lives to teach reading and writing. The incidence of adult drop-out is very high among literacy programs, as high as 50%, but in Literacy Solidarity, the rate has been between 20-26%. The cost of the course per person, US$18, will be paid by private companies.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 29, 1999
- National truckers’ strike paralyzes major roads
A national strike of truck drivers, who parked their trucks on and thus blocking major Brazilian highways, ended yesterday after five days. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso had threatened to bring in military troops to disperse the truck drivers if they continued to occupy the highways. The truck drivers were protesting a recent raise on toll roads fares and were also demanding better security on the highways. The strike ended when the government agreed to suspend the raise. The strike caused problems for many states’ supplies of gas and food products.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 29 & 30, 1999
WOMEN’S ISSUES: Maternal Mortality - The Shame of Negligence
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal mortality as " the death of a woman during pregnancy or within the period of 42 days after the end of pregnancy, independently of the duration or localization of the pregnancy or by measures taken in relation to her, however not due to accidental or incidental causes."
In Brazil, according to the Ministry of Health, every two hours a woman dies due to complications during pregnancy, childbirth or after childbirth. The maternal mortality index is 35 times more than in industrialized countries - 141 deaths for every 100,000 live infant births, "one of the highest mortality rates in the Americas. Thirty thousand children between 0 and 9 years are orphans of mothers who died while pregnant, during childbirth or after childbirth."
This number, however, may be much bigger. It is estimated that the Ministry of Health is able to count only 70% to 75% of the deaths, since the rest is not registered. In the North and Northeast of the country, there are places where it is estimated that 50% of deaths are not registered.
Causes
In Brazil, the most frequent causes of maternal mortality are hypertension (eclampsia), hemorrhage, infection and miscarriage. These are so-called direct causes and represent 80% of all maternal deaths. The indirect causes are the result of existing diseases before pregnancy or that develop during this period and are aggravated by the physiological effects of pregnancy.
Most shameful is that 98% of maternal mortalities could be avoided if the woman had dignified living conditions and access to quality health care, principally for pre-natal care, and good public care for childbirth and post childbirth. In Latin America alone 29,400 deaths every year would be avoided..
According to WHO, "the death of a woman during this period is a tragedy; is an unnecessary occurrence and a loss that causes an enormous amount of sadness and pain. A sense of cruelty exists when these deaths are examined: they shouldn’t happen, the woman was not sick and, even so, it occurred."
Maternal mortalities, however, represent only the tip of the iceberg. What is not visible is maternal morbidity. The rate of maternal mortality is one indicator of the health of the woman, particularly in the period of pregnancy and after childbirth.
Profile
Women that die of complications during pregnancy or in the 45 days after childbirth are generally from the lower socio-economic classes, possess little or no schooling, and do not have access to quality health care.
In the most remote parts of the country, where the public health system doesn’t often reach, these women are left to their own luck. In Brazil, unfortunately, there is still the cruel idea that to die in childbirth is normal. In the North and Northeast, it is common to hear the expression "the pregnancy didn’t work out and she died."
It is also in these regions where there is the largest concentration of traditional midwives and in some places 30-40% of births happen at home. For these reasons, training of these professionals is indispensable, entire communities count on their knowledge.
Successful experiences with traditional midwives are spreading throughout Brazil. In Caruaru, city in the dry region of Pernambuco, 150 kilometers from Recife, the NGO Cais do Parto that works with humanizing childbirth and birth, has already trained various midwives. The work began in 1992, and two years after, the Secretary of Health of that municipality registered a reduction of 30% in the rate of maternal mortality.
The midwives are trained and qualified to perceive problems in pregnancy like swelling, frequent headaches and obesity, in addition to accompanying pregnant women with pre-natal care, to identify those of high risk and to send them to give birth in a hospital when necessary.
When the midwives are called to assist a birth at home, they already know the woman, and have accompanied her throughout the pregnancy, orienting her about nutrition, hygiene and vaccinations. After the birth of the child, the midwife gives assistance to the woman, staying attentive to the cases of hemorrhaging, fever or any other complaint that the woman may present.
Rate of maternal mortality by region for every 100,000 live births
Northeast 138/100,000
North 298/100,000
Southeast 123/100,000
South 110/100,000
Center-West 181/100,000
Source: Jornal Fêmea - May 1999
Jornal Fêmea is a plublication of CFEMEA - Center of Feminist Studies and Assistance
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is
cited.
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited. If you wish to contact us, send a message to braziljusticenet@braziljusticenet.org. If you wish to be removed from our email list, go to http://braziljusticenet.org/subscribe.htm, type in your email address, and click "unsubscribe" button.