Health in Brazil: Diversity, Inequalities, and Public Policies
Health in Brazil invites scholars to examine this important question through the study of Brazil’s health system, population, and public policies.
Brazil is a country of continental proportions, extraordinary ethnic and cultural diversity, and profound regional inequalities. Its population has aged rapidly in recent decades, contributing to a complex epidemiological profile in which infectious diseases coexist with chronic conditions, metabolic diseases, and other health challenges associated with aging.
Brazil is also home to the Unified Health System, known as SUS—the world’s largest universal public health system. Created around the principle that health is a right of all people, SUS has achieved significant advances in primary care, vaccination, maternal and child health, and access to health services. Nevertheless, the ability to exercise this right remains deeply unequal. Race, social class, gender, geographic location, environmental conditions, and access to social resources continue to shape health experiences and outcomes throughout the country.
This interdisciplinary course examines Brazil through the lens of inequality. Drawing on recent empirical research and key scholarly literature, students investigate how public policies—and, in some cases, the absence of effective policies—shape health, education, and broader social outcomes. The course considers Brazil’s important achievements while also critically examining the structural limitations and persistent inequities within its institutions and systems.
Participants are expected to develop a broad understanding of public health in Brazil, become familiar with the country’s diverse social and regional realities, and engage with influential research in the field. Through readings, discussions, presentations, and case studies, students explore how historical processes, political decisions, community knowledge, and contemporary challenges affect health across different Brazilian populations.
Course topics include:
Health inequalities in developing countries: Core concepts, social determinants, and contemporary challenges affecting population health.
The Brazilian Unified Health System—SUS: The history, guiding principles, achievements, and ongoing challenges of the world’s largest universal public health system.
Primary health care in Brazil: The role of community-based services and primary care in expanding access and promoting prevention.
Brazil’s obstetric landscape: The systemic drivers of cesarean delivery and insights from a national perinatal epidemiology research program.
The Bolsa Família Program and population health: How one of Brazil’s most influential social protection programs has affected health and well-being.
Aging and vulnerable populations: The health and social implications of Brazil’s rapidly aging population, with particular attention to groups facing greater vulnerability.
Social determinants, metabolic diseases, and biological aging: The ways social and environmental conditions influence chronic disease and the aging process.
Racism, intersectionality, and access to health care: How race, gender, class, and other intersecting identities shape access, treatment, and health outcomes.
Eugenics, race, and social inequalities: The historical roots of racialized ideas and their continuing influence on institutions, policies, and health.Climate change and health in Brazil: The effects of environmental change on disease, displacement, food security, and the health of vulnerable communities.
Health care in riverside communities: The distinctive health needs, barriers, and community strengths found in geographically isolated areas.
Community engagement and knowledge production: How researchers and communities can co-produce knowledge in Brazil’s peripheral territories to advance health equity.
Physical activity through an equity lens: The social, environmental, and policy factors that shape opportunities for physical activity in Brazil and around the world.
Brazilian music and mental health: The roots of Brazilian music and its role in cultural identity, community connection, emotional expression, and well-being.
The course provides an opportunity to study Brazil not only as a national case but also as a setting through which students can consider broader global questions. What does it mean to recognize health as a human right? How can universal systems respond to diverse populations? Why do inequalities persist even when rights are formally guaranteed? How can public policy, scientific research, and community engagement work together to create more equitable outcomes?
By examining these questions, participants gain a deeper understanding of Brazil while developing analytical tools that can be applied to public health challenges in other countries and communities. The course offers a distinctive space for interdisciplinary learning about health equity, social justice, and the possibilities and limitations of public policy.
For more information, please contact Professor Cristina Guilam at cristina.guilam@gmail.com or guilam@illinois.edu