USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Global Health, Dr. Atul Gawande, travels to Brazil
September, 2024 – USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Atul Gawande visited Brazil from September 10 to 13, 2024, to engage with key stakeholders in Manaus and Brasília and discuss ways to advance the countries’ shared global health goals. His visit underscores the 200-year partnership between the United States and Brazil, and reaffirms the United States’ commitment to partnering with Brazil to address current and emerging public health challenges.
USAID is partnering with the Government of Brazil to expand its capacity to detect, prevent, and respond to emerging infectious diseases through the integrated One Health approach. This collaboration aims to bolster human, animal, and environmental health, particularly in the Brazilian Amazon, with a special focus on indigenous communities.
According to Dr. Gawande, “Collaborating with Brazil on health initiatives that integrate human, animal, and environmental health is a huge opportunity for the planet. Our joint commitment to One Health strategies is essential for the well-being of communities across the Amazon and beyond”.
Dr. Gawande’s visit to Manaus included discussions with the local health foundation (FVS-RCP) and Fiocruz Amazonas on public health emergencies and surveillance. He also visited the Wildlife Screening Center (CETAS) to explore strategies for zoonotic disease prevention, and met with health workers at the Balbina Mestrinho State Maternity and the Family Health Unit at Parque das Tribos. These units play a crucial role in delivering culturally sensitive healthcare to Indigenous communities and core to Brazil’s Unified Health System, which provides primary health care throughout the country.
In Brasília, Dr. Gawande met with Ministry of Health officials and UN agencies, including the Pan-American Health Organization and UNICEF. Discussions centered on the One Health approach to tackling emerging zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Dr. Gawande concluded his visit with a roundtable discussion to draw on Brazil’s experiences with lead mitigation and served as the guest of honor at an event hosted by the Brazilian health regulatory agency ANVISA to mark World Sepsis Day and World Patient Safety Day on September 13.
About Dr. Atul Gawande – He is the Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID. The Bureau for Global Health works to improve lives worldwide by preventing child and maternal deaths, controlling HIV/AIDS, combating infectious diseases, and preparing for future outbreaks.
Prior to joining USAID, Dr. Gawande was a practicing surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In addition, Atul was a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and has written four New York Times best-selling books: Complications, Better, The Checklist Manifesto, and Being Mortal.
See photos of the visit to Brazil here and watch the video.
