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In a context of rapid technological innovation and expensive new products, the paper calls for the generation of real-world data to inform decision-making and an international discussion on the affordability of new medicines, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. Without these, the challenges of health judicialization will continue to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a doctoral research, eighty-eight local truth commissions created in Brazil between 2012 and 2018 were identified. Among them, it was selected the eleven final reports that described partnerships between truth commissions and universities. The paper analyzes the phenomenon of creation of local truth commissions in Brazil and the partnerships established between them and universities, especially, with Archival Science and History programs. It was found that the partnerships were established to make the work of truth commissions feasible and consisted of archival activities such as preservation, description, and scanning as well as research. It concludes that, although the educational engagement of Brazilian truth commissions has been limited, partnerships with universities have provided students the contact with the theme of human rights, in line with the callings for the profession to address activism and human rights within the context of archival education. Finally, the paper suggests that experiences developed by these partnerships could be incorporated into Archival Science programs in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the goals of the University extension project "How to use the Law", realized in Porto Seguro, State of Bahia, Brazil, was to identify methodologies of other projects about education about rights in schools to be used in posterior activities. In order to do so, we analyzed papers published at the Human rights and Justice session of the Brazilian Congress on University Extension Annals since 2012. We found thirteen papers, mostly from North, South and Southeast regions about: human rights education, bullying, Statute of Children and Adolescents, violence, racism, social inequality, sexuality, family relationships, restorative justice, illicit psychotropic substances, peace culture, and others. In general, the projects related in the papers are interdisciplinary. Some of them exhibit movies and a few others engage with other institutions and professionals. They face the challenges of improper material conditions of execution, the need to adapt the legal language to the specific public and the ambivalence of rights that can provide either emancipation or discipline. Although some papers describe how successful the projects were, it would be useful to describe in detail the methods, techniques and materials used in the activities, as well as the underlying concepts of teaching and extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aimed to analyze the refuge of women in Brazil and compare the information with international in order to verify if the gender issue still has relevance in the requests. Therefore, at first, a historical construction was made around human rights and personality rights. Then, the analysis of the (in) equality of gender was carried out, verifying if there was, or still is, the search for the emancipation of women in the international community. After that, the data on women's refuge in Brazil were compared with the world situation. Although the cut referring to a country has been made, it is concluded that even in the refuge there are reflections of the absence of gender equality. Therefore, in this article, the deductive method was used through a qualitative analysis, based on bibliographical and documentary research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, the presence of psychology in prisons was established by the Criminal Sentence Execution Act, in 1984, and it was intensified in the past three decades. In the paper, the results of a study are discussed to understand the activity of psychologists in the prisons in Minas Gerais, based on clinical approaches to the work. We performed a qualitative research, with content analysis of documents, observations in five prisons, and interviews with 14 psychologists who work at these prisons. We verified that the role of psychology in prisons has been controversial, with different institutional intersections resulting from the security and punishment logic, which seems to frequently oppose professional ethical principles. The institutional demand for classifying prisoners overlaps with the monitoring of rehabilitation programs, set forth by law. This scenario, worsened by the lack of professionals, results in obstructions in the activity, the distress of the worker, trivialization of the violation of rights, and uncritical adhesion to the repressive mechanism of the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ford Foundation's involvement with the social sciences in Brazil coincided with the early years of the military regime that ruled the country between 1964 and 1985. The paper studies how changed political circumstances in the United States and abroad induced the Foundation to gradually abandon the technocratic approach that had governed its overseas programme since the 1950s, thus introducing a critical shift in its policies toward the developing world. A grant proposal to the University of Brasília, which had been subject to repeated military interventions since 1964, highlighted the ethical dilemmas raised by the goal of fostering policy-relevant research in an authoritarian political context. Relying on a pragmatic decision-making framework that converted ethical and ideological considerations into cost–benefit exercises, the Foundation finally moved away from the maxims of modernisation theory to embrace new strategic priorities like human rights, democracy and intellectual pluralism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the decline of the AIDS Programme in Brazil, the Latin American country most affected by the epidemic, with emphasis in the second decade of the twenty-first century. For many years, Brazil served as a model in Global Health due to a comprehensive preventive policy, a partnership between the government and health activists and the support of life-saving drugs as public goods rather than commodities. The regression of AIDS policies in Brazil interacted with developments in the United States as well as with multilateral agencies like UNAIDS that emphasised biomedicalisation in the response to the disease where broad human-rights programmes and alliance with activists were not priorities. International programmes like the 'Ending AIDS' campaign indirectly undermined the exceptional status AIDS enjoyed since the late 1980s. The backlash in Brazilian policies to fight AIDS was a result of the fragmentation of the left and the empowerment of radical conservative authoritarian and religious forces. The result was the breakdown of the long-held belief that successful anti-AIDS disease programmes could simultaneously help control the disease and build better healthcare systems and ultimately prompted the end of the special place AIDS' policy had in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the process of internationalising the legal mobilisation that sought reparations for the mining disaster that took place in 2015 in the city of Mariana, the Doce River basin and on Brazil's southeastern coastline. It seeks to understand the dynamics produced by activating different levels of justice and the effects of internationalisation on the functioning of justice institutions at national level. Two separate patterns of internationalisation are noted: a) via the traditional human rights defence networks; and b) a new one, promoted by an international office specialised in "alternative litigation financing" (ALF), which employs arguments from environmental law and transnational legislation. The characteristics of these two patterns are examined along with their effects on the dynamics of legal mobilisation and national institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Police and military officers have been migrating to institutional party politics since the democratization period in Brazil. Analyzes former officer's discourses at São Paulo's state parliament in different contexts. Drawing from document analysis, the so-called "bullet caucus" of the 18th legislature (2015-2019) was compared to the "security caucus" elected for the first time in the 11th legislature (1987-1991). Although these groups have shown similarities concerning public security, new negotiation strategies, and a dispute over human rights policy have been observed. The paper argues that the "bullet caucus" reorganizes conservatism in the political field by opening spaces of connection with diverse groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current paper deals with the effectiveness of the decisions of the Interamerican Human Rights Court in Brazil through the paradigm of the case of the employees of the fireworks factory in Santo Antônio de Jesus and expectations towards the compliance of the Court´s decision. The Interamerican System of Human Rights was described from the historical point of view, coupled to the role of the organs involved and the insertion of Brazil in the Organization of American States. Further, the relativization of national sovereignty is discussed within the legal force of decisions by the Interamerican Human Rights Court. The case of employees of the fireworks factory in Santo Antônio de Jesus is forwarded as from the sentence given by the Court and other developments. Results show that attendance to the Court´s decisions is slow, mainly when one analyzes previous condemnations. On the other hand, recent initiatives have shown that, if properly implemented, it may bring new stances with regard to the effectiveness of the decisions. The descriptive method, bibliographic review and analysis of decisions were employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeking asylum presents itself as a surviving strategy to a part of the population in the 21st century globalization period due to political, social and economic crisis. In this regard, this paper aims to analyze if the Brazilian economic crisis discourse stimulates xenophobia towards refugees sheltered in Brazil. Therefore, this article is divided into two stages. Initially, the migratory context in the 21st century is exposed, followed by and explanation of the international and national legal support regarding the refugee issue. Then, the possibility of the economic discourse as a xenophobia stimulator was pointed out. The research is based on a bibliographic methodology, pure, qualitative, descriptive and exploratory, using a legislative and data analysis of the National Refugee Committee. Thus, it is concluded that the economic crisis discourse does promote xenophobic practices, and those behaviors must be efficiently combated to there by guarantee human rights to refugees in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual and reproductive health needs and rights are one of the bleakest examples of (racialised) gender health inequalities in Brazil. This is so despite legal and constitutional specificity recognising the right to health as right of citizenship. In this paper we argue that a 'performance gap' is revealed in contradictions between what the right to health as a normative framework encourages states to do, and institutional arrangements and power relations that underpin everyday gendered inequalities in health delivery. The contribution of this article is two-fold. First, it contributes to feminist political economy accounts of the neglect of sexual and reproductive rights by adding a perspective of human dignity as an approach to gender inequalities. Second, it explores ways in which health inequalities manifest in everyday practices, and how divergent expectations of what the right to health means for professionals and for disadvantaged black women limit the capacity of healthcare to make a difference to their well-being. The article also underlines the importance of complementing legal accountability in health with mechanisms that account for prerogatives of gender justice, equality and dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a historical overview of the laws that formalized public policies aimed at the elderly population in Brazil and the struggles for its implementation, since the promulgation of the Constitution of 1988 until the present day, with emphasis on the creation of channels for the participation of civil society in the monitoring and deliberation of such rights. The methodology consists of the review of the bibliography on the subject and the qualitative analysis of the official documents that formalize the rights of the elderly people. The results deal with the relationship between social control and the guarantee of the rights of the elderly people, through the consolidation of a non-state public sphere, such as councils, forums, and conferences. The conclusion highlights the importance of the rights councils, in a government context of retraction of the participation of civil society in the follow-up of such policies on the current scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community participation as a strategy in health aims to increase the role of citizens in health decision-making which are contextualised within the institutions of democracy. Electoral representation as the dominant model of democracy globally is based on the elite theory of democracy that sees political decision-making a prerogative of political elites. Such political elitism is counter to the idea of democratic participation. Neoliberalism together with elitism in political sphere have worsened social inequities by undermining working class interests. Latin America has seen adverse consequences of these social inequities. In response, social movements representing collective struggles of organised citizens arose in the region. This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of democratic participation in contemporary Latin American context at the nexus of emerging social movement activism and policy responses. The paper will use empirical examples to highlight how such democratic practices at the societal level evolved while demanding political inclusion. These societal democratic practices in Latin America are redefining democracy, which continues to be seen in the political sphere only. Health reforms promoting participatory democracy in several Latin American countries have demonstrated that establishing institutions and mechanisms of democratic participation facilitate collective participation by the organised citizenry in state affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the regulatory responses to Covid-19 from the regulatory authorities of Brazilian states. This paper aims to provide new insights into the operationalization of the human rights to water and sanitation in the Brazilian regulatory authorities' actions during a health emergency. We find that communities located in unserved areas were not mentioned in the regulatory responses, nor were people in vulnerable situations. Equity and non-discrimination principles were correlated more with economic measures. This study has also identified the absence of responses related to access to sanitation facilities, with normative contents related to the issue not appearing in the content analysis. • The presence of HRtWS is unequal in the regulatory responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. • Communities without piped network were ignored in the regulatory responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. • No mentions regarding vulnerable people were identified in the regulatory responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. • No responses were identified regarding access to sanitation facilities. • There is an absence of a plural understanding of the sustainability in the regulatory responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I explain why Brazilian indigenous land rights are being violated by the government’s large-scale development projects, by industrial farming, and by mining development. I also analyze why indigenous land rights are not historically and legally protected in Brazil. For indigenous peoples, the land is a geographic space of their own lives, a cultural space for the preservation of tribal culture, and a space for recognition that secures an identity based on their own values and worldview. It can be said that the indigenous peoples are the land. The problems related to indigenous land rights are summarized by the following four issues. First, the land rights law, which does not recognize the natural rights of indigenous peoples, is a form of implicit colonialism in that it does not take into account the past lives or sacrifices of indigenous peoples. Second, indigenous peoples can live in, but cannot own indigenous lands. This is because the owner of the indigenous lands is the federal government. Third, since the administrative procedure for designating a protected area for indigenous peoples has not been carried out within five years as specified in the Constitution, hence, it is not binding and the procedure itself imposes bureaucratic barriers which make it difficult for indigenous peoples to protect their rights. Fourth, there is a problem of equity with other minority groups. In the case of the escaped slave community known as the “Quilombo,” common property rights are recognized. However, indigenous peoples and non-indigenous traditional peoples are not recognized as exercising common property rights. Therefore, indigenous lands are occupied by the government's development policy, corporate agriculture and mine development, and indigenous people’s right to live is also seriously infringed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I propose an analysis of the 2010s in Brazil based on two events that took place in the field of Human Rights in the country: the election of deputy Marco Feliciano for the presidency of the Federal Chamber's Human Rights and Minorities Commission (CDHM), in 2013 and the creation, in 2019, of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) under the command of Damares Alves. The two facts, read respectively as rupture and re-reading, disclose a correlation of forces that suggests how the Human Rights agenda legitimizes and enhances a given religious agency in the current national political scenario. This scenario, I argue, becomes viable from the discourse against the "gender ideology" in the field of institutional policy in the country, which supported the deep changes that took place in the course of that decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of globalization, migration, and urbanization, the meaning of 'citizenship' undergoes a change, even though its normative core -- that is, the human rights and the related duties -- do not directly change. The present paper follows some possible transformations of citizenship which are directed to strengthening local ties. How and in which context does a local citizenship emerges? As is well known, Brazil is the only country, in which the right to the city is inscribed in the National Constitution. In light of the mentioned transformations, this article examines selected results of a research about citizens experiences in participatory procedures for urban planing proposals in Germany and Switzerland. Although such participatory forums are important for public opinion formation, it is clear that politics meaning decay in face of private interest, so that local citizenship might be questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil is a middle-income country with universal maternity care, mostly by doctors. The experience of normal birth often includes rigid routines, aggressive interventions, and abusive, disrespectful treatment. In Brazil, this has been referred to as dehumanised care and, more recently, as obstetric violence. Since the early 1990s, social movements (SM) have struggled to change practices, public policies and provider training. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the role of SM in promoting change in maternity care, and in provider training. In this integrative review using a gender-oriented approach, we searched the Scielo database and the Ministry of Health’s (MofH) publications and edicts for institutional and research papers on SM initiatives addressing disrespect and abuse in the last 25 years (1993-2018) in Brazil, and their impact on public policies and training programmes. We analyse these groups of interrelated initiatives: (1) political actions of SM resulting in changes in public policies and legislation; (2) events organised by SM for diffusion of information to the public; (3) MofH policies to humanise childbirth with participation of SM; and (4) initiatives to change providers’ training, including legal actions based on obstetric violence reports. To promote real change in maternity care, the progression of policies and enabling environment of laws, regulations, and broad dissemination of information, need to go hand in hand with changes in all health providers’ training - including a solid base in ethics, gender and human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right-wing populism advances a brand of communicative politics that are antithetical to Paulo Freire's vision of liberating, critical, and participatory communication. This essential opposition helps to understand why the Bolsonaro government has turned Freire into a target of criticisms, as part of its ambitious, furious attempt to remove progressive politics and human rights advances from Brazilian society. Considering the current situation, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of Freire's ideas for the analysis of the politics of hope against populism. His principles of public criticism, dialogue, autonomous participation, humanism, and hope are antithetical to populism's vision. The unfolding of both dialogic and expressive politics against populism in Brazil and elsewhere illustrate the significance of Freire's arguments, and raise questions about the limitations of purely dialogic strategies to confront authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present an analysis of the bill that institutes the "Schools Without Party" program (PL 246/2019), in order to indicate how and why this project constitutes an obstacle to the educational action within the school subject "Religious Education" in the elementary school, can be an obstacle to integral formation as established by the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education in Brazil. For this analysis, we mobilized categories from the field of international law, such as decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Protocol of San Salvador, as well as categories and theoretical references from the Religious Studies. Firstly, we seek to examine the extent to which the American Convention on Human Rights - referenced in the bill as a central argument in defense of the right of parents that your children receives religious and moral education at school in accordance with that cultivated by their families privately - provides the principles of PL 246/2019. In a second moment, we approach the notion of religion that underlies the project and the impediments accrued from a perspective of religion restricted to belief and practice, disregarding its cultural dimension. Therefore, we seek to point out how this understanding of religion leads to a fragmented and misunderstood comprehension of the Convention, which in addition to endangering fundamental human rights, also suspends basic precepts of education in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many countries are employing strategies intended to reduce maldistribution of health workers and inequities. The purpose of this study was to analyse the impact of expansion policies of medical schools on regional inequalities in the distribution of undergraduate class sizes, and the capacity to attract and retain doctors and to expand health facilities. Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis to compare the distribution of undergraduate places in 2007 and 2016 to determine the impact of targeted expansion policies on inequalities in access to medical education in Brazil. A group of municipalities with new medical schools (n = 54) and a control group without medical schools (n = 408) were compared to analyse impacts of expansion in the health sector. We compared the increase in the number of physicians per 1000 inhabitants and health establishments per inhabitants between 2007 and 2016 based on these two groups. We also analysed the relationship between geographic distance from the state capital and capacity to attract physicians. Results: There was a decrease in the regional inequalities of undergraduate places in medical schools; the greatest increase in the places per 1000 inhabitants was in municipalities of between 50 000 and 100 000 inhabitants. Municipalities with new medical schools showed an increase in physicians per 1000 inhabitants and in health establishments per inhabitant ratio, demonstrating the potential to attract and retain doctors, as well as strengthening the health infrastructure. Municipalities more distant from state capitals showed a greater increase in physician : inhabitant ratio. Discussion: Countries with health workforce shortages and inequalities in their distribution might consider public financing and regulation policies for expansion of medical schools as a strategy to attract and retain professionals. Early results in Brazil showed that such strategies could strengthen service networks in deprived areas, supporting implementation of Universal Healthcare Coverage. How can medical schools influence regional inequities in access to medicine? This paper describes how expansion policy impacts upon the distribution of the medical workforce and the capacity to attract doctors to underserved areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to information, guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution, is indispensable for the development of a democratic society. The paper investigates the manner access to information has impacted the parameters "protect, respect and repair", conducted to the Ruggie Principles. The latter establishes the obligation of States, the accountability of companies and the need of efficient resources for the protection of human rights and the reparation of harm when violated. Focus comprises work environment in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, especially with regard to health protection of the workers. Hypothesis deals with information access for the improvement of state and corporative work. The inductive method was employed and procedures comprise secondary data analysis of official documents, coupled to review of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper discusses the question about the right to the city and the influences of the dispute for the city on urban mobility, using São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, as a study case. We present the concept of the human mobility transition, which relates to the idea of large shifts in human mobility dynamics that have affected the constitution and development of urban settlements, the structure of the urban form, and social networks. We then argue that the latest stage of this transition is heavily influenced by the fact that cities have become both the arena for and the object of the political struggle between unsustainable economic growth and sustainable human development. Health consequences of the dispute for the city in the context of urban mobility are discussed. Final section uses the case of São Paulo to illustrate these arguments, focusing on changes that occurred from the end of the 19th century onwards. Highlights • Human mobility dynamics influence and are influenced by urban development patterns and social networks. • The concept of human mobility transition is presented and linked to urban and nutrition transitions. • The health consequences of the dispute for the city in the context of mobility transitions are discussed. • The latest stage of the mobility transition will result from political struggles over public space and the right to the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global health faces a broad spectrum of old and new challenges. Besides epidemiological problems, political conflicts, economic crisis and austerity policies are jeopardizing progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), affecting the most vulnerable populations. During the 22nd International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) World Conference on Health Promotion held in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2016, challenges and threats for global health, in addition to a wide range of innovative experiences in health promotion, were discussed with participants from 65 countries. At the end of the conference, a public statement was approved claiming for Democracy and Human Rights in all countries around the world as essential conditions for the promotion of health and equity. In this paper, we explore challenges, threats and innovations in global health promotion. We use scientific literature, analysis of the current situation of the Brazilian health system, and material presented during the 22nd IUHPE World Conference. Also, we discuss strategies to strengthen health systems, policies and practices through the approach of STI and illustrative local experiences presented at the congress mentioned above, including examples developed in the city of Curitiba. We conclude that STI is crucial to support strengthening local health systems, design effective intersectoral public policies, scaling up innovative initiates, and skilling staff in addressing the contemporary challenges. Finally, the Declaration of the 22nd World Conference on Health Promotion of the IUHPE is a fundamental policy statement based on the prioritization of democracy and human rights as essential conditions for the promotion of health and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data on disability are regularly collected by different institutions or ministries using specific tools for different purposes, for instance to estimate the prevalence of disability or eligibility of specific populations for social benefits. The interoperability of disability data collected in countries is essential for policy making and to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The first objective of this paper is to map and compare tools that collect data on disability for different purposes, more specifically the Brazilian National Health Survey and the Brazilian Functioning Index to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank Model Disability Survey (MDS), currently recommended as a standard tool for disability measurement. The second objective is to demonstrate the usefulness and value of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Linking Rules to map and compare population-based surveys and other content-related tools collecting data on disability, even when these have already been developed based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Methods: Disability information collected with the three different tools was mapped and compared using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Linking Rules. Results: Although the disability module in the Brazilian National Health Survey is fundamentally different from the MDS, the mapping disclosed that several modules of the Brazilian National Health Survey already cover many aspects necessary to estimate prevalence and understand disability as currently recommended by the WHO and the World Bank. The Brazilian Functioning Index and the MDS are both based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health and are very similar in the approach and content of their questions on functioning. Specific information on environmental factors is essential to identify needs and barriers, as well as to devise procedures to reduce injustice and inequalities. This information is still not targeted broadly enough in both the Brazilian National Health Survey and the Brazilian Functioning Index. Conclusions: Overall, this mapping exercise showed that applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health linking rules to population-based data coming from different sources provides researchers and stakeholders involved in decision-making with standardized and straightforward information about overlaps and gaps. Implications for Rehabilitation: Data on functioning and disability regularly collected with different purposes and by different institutions or ministries within a country can be compared using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a reference framework and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health linking rules. The recently published refinements of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Linking Rules go beyond the sole linking to International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health categories and provide standardized procedures to document the perspective of linked questions or the categorization of response options. They are therefore useful to compared tools that have been developed based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. The current disability module of the Brazilian Health Survey needs a revision to be suitable to collect data on disability that is Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conform and guarantees interoperability with disability data from other sources in Brazil, especially from disability assessment for social benefits and implementation of policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the approach to human rights in Brazilian foreign policy agendas since President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's first mandate. It discusses institutional arrangements arising from domestic processes of democratisation, as well as from human rights regime changes that have occurred regionally and globally. The paper's key contention is that the foreign policy changes—both in emphasis and positioning—which took place after 2003 were due to three variables: (i) the securitisation of the global order after 9/11 and the resumption of the double standards policy; (ii) the transnationalisation of human rights movements and the emerging judicialisation of foreign policy; and (iii) at the domestic level, non-governmental actors' and social movements' emerging demands for participation in the field of foreign policy. The paper aims to contribute to the theoretical debate on foreign policy as public policy, and to offer some new frames of reference regarding Brazil's official motivations in the field of human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test whether training correctional facility (CF) officers in the admission process would identify risk factors for inmates' unscheduled transfers to healthcare units in the first 24 hours. Design/methodology/approach Correctional officers (COs) were trained to use a questionnaire with ten closed questions, which seeks to identify occupational or nosocomial risk, applied upon the admission of inmates to a CF. Findings There were 1,288 admissions in six CFs in Ribeirão Preto and Serra Azul/Brazil from March 2010 to May 2011. Of those admissions, 21.2 percent were in penitentiaries and 78.9 percent in provisional detention centers. Of the questionnaires applied, 580 answered affirmatively (45 percent) for one or more of the questions, with nearly 60 percent related to drug use in the last 12 hours, 37.7 percent use of medications while the most frequently mentioned diseases were respiratory diseases (37 percent) and mental disorders (19 percent).The number of positive responses per evaluation presented an odds ratio of 3.6 (CI 95% - 1.6, 10.5) for unscheduled transfers for external clinical evaluation. Research limitations/implications The lack of a control group and the fact that morbidities described by prisoners could not be confirmed are study limitations. The research does, however, still contribute to the goal of achieving appropriate medical care within CFs. Originality/value The training of COs to identify risk factors that predict the need for unplanned transfers to healthcare units was feasible. These findings have important implications for CFs that do not provide ongoing medical service, a universal reality in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a historical examination of the ways in which advocacy strategies and tactics have shifted in relation to political opportunities, using a case study of a hydroelectric dam project in the Brazilian Amazon, known as the Belo Monte Dam. Drawing on over three decades of resistance by transnational activist coalitions, the paper looks at how new tactics and political alignments have altered the dynamics of activism and norm diffusion in Brazilian domestic environmental, human rights and development policies. The paper argues that current theories of norm diffusion inadequately explain backslides and tend to underestimate the complexity of domestic political alignments. The case adds political insight to our understanding of the relationship of transnational advocacy strategy to environmental and human rights political realities in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent studies of the Brazilian case suggest that successful litigation can have regressive effects and negatively impact the health care system. While the data to support this claim is not conclusive, this paper assumes that such immediate regressive effects are indeed taking place, but asks if these are the only consequences that should be analyzed in assessing the impact of right to health litigation in Brazil. The answer is no. The current perspective adopted to assess right to health litigation in Brazil is too narrow. Other consequences can and should be considered in analyzing the overall impact of litigation. To go beyond the set of questions asked by the existing experts on the topic, this paper analyzes whether the right to health litigation in Brazil has the potential, and could be generating: (i) policy changes within the health care system; (ii) institutional changes within the health care system; and (iii) institutional changes outside the health care system. After presenting anecdotal evidence that suggests these three types of changes may be happening in Brazil, I conclude the paper by discussing what would be required to assess them, and how these changes may affect our overall assessment of the more immediate and supposedly negative impact that litigation has had on the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines family planning in Brazil as biopolitics and explores how the democratization of the State and of reproductive health services after two decades of military dictatorship (1964–1984) has influenced health professionals’ and family planning users’ discourses and practices. Do health professionals envisage family planning as a ‘right’ or do they conceive it, following the old neo-Malthusian rationale, as a ‘moral duty’ of poor people, whose ‘irrational’ reproduction jeopardizes the family's and the nation's well being? And how do their patients conceptualize and embody family planning? To answer these questions, this paper draws on 13 months of multi-sited ethnographic research undertaken between 2003 and 2005 in two public family planning services in Salvador da Bahia, where participant observation was undertaken and unstructured interviews were conducted with 11 health professionals and 70 family planning users, mostly low income black women. The paper examines how different bio-political rationalities operate in these services and argues that the old neo-Malthusian rationale and the current, dominant discourse on reproductive rights, gender equality and citizenship coexist. The coalescence of different biopolitical rationalities leads to the double stigmatization of family planning users as ‘victims’ of social and gender inequalities and as ‘irrational’ patients, ‘irresponsible’ mothers and ‘bad’ citizens if they do not embody the neo-Malthusian and biomedical rationales shaping medical practice. However, these women do not behave as ‘docile bodies’: they tactically use medical and non-medical contraceptives not only to be good mothers and citizens, but also to enhance themselves and to attain their own goals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on one of the ‘child-trafficking scandals’ that occurred in Brazil in the 1990s. Ethnographic research was carried out between 2000 and 2001 within a movement of poor families formed in São Paulo to put pressure on the authorities to review the legal procedures that had led to their children being placed for national and international adoption. Fieldwork was supplemented by other data, including reports by legislative bodies, articles in the press, and case files involving the termination of parental rights. This paper explores views on international adoption among members of the Brazilian elites such as judges, agents in the field of child protection and journalists, in the context of old but persistent neo-Malthusian ideas. Although the Brazilian birth rate is now below the replacement level, it is still common to blame ‘irresponsible’ reproduction among the urban poor for violence in large cities. Drawing a parallel with the routine sterilization of women that prevailed for decades and was encouraged by Brazilian physicians, the paper examines how, in a ‘struggle against poverty’, judicial agents took it upon themselves to enforce ‘birth control’ through adoption, bypassing family consent and the law in the process. The paper concludes by arguing that discrimination against poor families who are viewed as disorganized, immoral and irresponsible – characteristics frequently associated with criminality by a sector of the elites – has contributed to the view that lower-class families do not have the right to bear children, or to keep them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to study the issue of a process judged in a reasonable time frame and what criteria can be used to define it, both in the Brazilian judicial order and the Inter-American Human Rights System. It will also examine other international systems' definitions of reasonable time to compare them with the Inter--American System. Finally, the paper concludes that reasonable time is fundamental in order to protect human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports of the socio-medical management of intersexuality in a teaching hospital in southern Brazil. Findings reveal that the 'search for sex' in the body treats sex as a medical-diagnostic category constructed during decision-making negotiations. In the course of the various bodily 'regulations' and 'corrections' imposed, the insufficiency of a model in which categories are based around a sexual dichotomy is revealed. By questioning this dichotomy, it is possible to examine theoretical and ethical limits circumscribing the field of bioethics and the notion of sexual rights as human rights. The paper also explores the tensions that can arise from the application of sexual rights to health issues in general, and the medical sphere in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the publication of the reports by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), many research papers have documented inequities, explaining causal pathways in order to inform policy and programmatic decision-making. At the international level, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect an attempt to bring together these themes and the complexities involved in defining a comprehensive development framework. However, to date, much less has been done to address the monitoring challenges, that is, how data generation, analysis and use are to become routine tasks. Objective: To test proposed indicators of social determinants of health (SDH), gender, equity, and human rights with respect to their relevance in tracking progress in universal health coverage and population health (level and distribution). Design: In an attempt to explore these monitoring challenges, indicators covering a wide range of social determinants were tested in four country case studies (Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam) for their technical feasibility, reliability, and validity, and their communicability and usefulness to policy-makers. Twelve thematic domains with 20 core indicators covering different aspects of equity, human rights, gender, and SDH were tested through a review of data sources, descriptive analyses, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. To test the communicability and usefulness of the domains, domain narratives that explained the causal pathways were presented to policy-makers, managers, the media, and civil society leaders. Results: For most countries, monitoring is possible, as some data were available for most of the core indicators. However, a qualitative assessment showed that technical feasibility, reliability, and validity varied across indicators and countries. Producing understandable and useful information proved challenging, and particularly so in translating indicator definitions and data into meaningful lay and managerial narratives, and effectively communicating links to health and ways in which the information could improve decision-making. Conclusions: This exercise revealed that for monitoring to produce reliable data collection, analysis, and discourse, it will need to be adapted to each national context and institutionalised into national systems. This will require that capacities and resources for this and subsequent communication of results are increased across countries for both national and international monitoring, including the successful implementation of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 40 years archaeology in Brazil has grown in the wake of development projects, covered by the objectivity of techniques and neutrality, and isolated from conflicts and environmental injustices associated with such projects. The arguments on this paper revolve around narratives of rock art from a Brazilian region where people were relocated after their displacement by a large scale development project in the 1970s; they seek to discuss the environmental management model adopted in Brazil and how professional archaeologists act within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the presence of US philanthropy in Brazil with regards to the field of human rights from 2003 to 2012, using data from the Foundation Center on 1896 grants totaling $336M. Human rights NGOs are especially important in Brazil. Despite recent growth and development, it is a country that still faces many social, political and human rights challenges. But the local field is still largely dependent on international funding, and US foundations play a traditional and vital role in this scenario, thus it is important to understand recent changes on American foundations priorities. The numbers indicate that the US investment in Brazil is concentrated in few areas (environment and human rights account for 50% of the amount invested), and these priorities are clearly different from those in the Brazilian philanthropic agenda (more focused on education, income generation, youth and community development). When we focus on human rights, we must underline that the investment in human rights by American foundations is quite notable. Not only is Brazil the country in which there were more investments in this topic in the last 10 years, but human rights is also the second field of priority in the country, right after Environment. When examining the collected data, there are four large patterns emerging: dependence on big donors, relevance of the strategy of 'many small grants', incipient grants in advocacy and possible existence of thematic niches. Of all these issues, the main challenge is that the field is very dependent on a few very large donors: Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation and the Global Fund for Women account for over 65% of the grants and 89% of the amount in US dollars. The Kellogg Foundation has already left Brazil to concentrate on other geographic priorities; should the Ford Foundation take a similar decision, the field of human rights in Brazil might even collapse, since Brazilian donors do not yet demonstrate enthusiasm for the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a summary of the status of child and adolescent rights in Brazil. It describes the evolution of the legislation, particularly after the implementation of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA). Analyzed topics include life, identity, health, protection, education, and housing. The violation of child and youth rights is also considered, with an emphasis on child labour, sexual violence, and exploitation. Although much progress has been made in terms of protecting and guaranteeing such rights, Brazil is far from attaining the ideals determined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the ECA. For this to happen, a culture of respect for child and adolescent rights has to be implemented in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) firmly enshrined a legal framework guaranteeing enforceable minimum intellectual property (IP) standards at the international level. But it also resulted in a greater inclusion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in wider political debates between developing and industrialised countries – for instance on questions of global health and development. This paper argues that the increasing reach and efficacy of the IP regime has given rise to wider challenges to the IP system needing urgent conceptual analysis. The focus here is on IP’s increasing confrontation with the right to health, which is analysed not as an encounter of radically opposed legal systems, but as an ambivalent process in which the right to health operates as a challenge to the IP system – and, paradoxically, as an argument for its extension. To account for this ambivalence, the analysis develops a Foucauldian understanding of the right to health’s potential challenge, re-evaluating the right to health’s role as a part of a process of incremental realisation of governmental priorities, which negotiates tensions between guaranteeing the function of the economy and improving the health of populations. While this incremental process draws attention to the limitations of the right to health’s potential to challenge the IP regime, it also highlights this regime’s difficulty in accommodating a wider range of active entrepreneurial subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current paper analyzes criminal court suits in which individuals were accused of murder perpetuated to solve personal conflicts. The social and cultural standards in the solution of conflicts are debated, coupled to the social norms that imbued and interfered in the judgments, within the limits of current research, or rather Brazilian society in mid-20th century. The doctrine of one of the main jurists in the country, analyzing the discrepancies in the 1940 Penal Code, is investigated, or rather, crimes against life and property. Events are investigated where the legitimation of the homicidal act occurred as from social conditions of the people involved and those with psychic and moral conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 25 years, there has been growing investment in concepts of rights in the areas of HIV prevention, care and treatment, including HIV- and AIDS-related education delivered in schools. Despite this increasing commitment to the notion of rights, few efforts appear to have been made to understand the varying conceptions of rights that underpin different kinds of initiatives. Engaging with a multi-disciplinary body of literature on the issue of rights, and through a focus on three rights-informed HIV- and AIDS-related initiatives, this paper seeks to address this gap in the current literature. In so doing, it also examines a central tension within human rights discourse, namely between the construal of rights as shared and universally applicable to all human beings, while being created in and limited by the location in which they were elaborated, as well as by the language used to formulate them. More explicit engagement with the diversity of approaches made possible through a commitment to human rights may facilitate forms of HIV- and AIDS-related education that are more meaningful to young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1970s, the United States has adopted a trade policy agenda that has forced countries to trade away flexible patent provisions for access to US markets. While pharmaceutical companies have argued that the recognition of patent rights is essential for recovering investments in research and development of pharmaceuticals and incentivizing future innovation, the lack of competition has had damaging consequences for public health, as companies tend to set the prices of treatments beyond the reach of consumers and government programs. Thailand and Brazil are bound by law to provide universal access to anti-retroviral treatment ( ART) to People Living with HIV/ AIDS ( PLWHA). This has been made possible in part due to the universal health care systems in each country and the countries' local technical and industrial capacities that provide the government with affordable generic medicines. The introduction of stronger intellectual property protection laws however, has limited possibilities for procuring generic medicines and inflated the cost of treatment. Between 2006-2008, Thailand and Brazil used compulsory licensing to authorize generic competition against the consent of the pharmaceutical companies in order to guarantee the right to health and ensure the viability of government health budgets. This paper will demonstrate how the interaction between individual / collective action and structural and institutional elements in Thailand and Brazil produced propitious conditions for each country to assert the primacy of health over patent rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]