SUS: In 2024, let everyone do their part – 12/31/2023 – Marcia Castro

I watched the documentary series “Betinho: no Fio da Navalha”. It is a beautiful work that portrays a not-so-distant past. A past of struggle for democracy, for dignity, for life. The series is much more than an artistic production; It is a lesson in history and civility, an inspiration for current and future generations.

I would like to highlight one aspect of the documentary series: the importance of the SUS in regulating blood donations and access to medicines to treat AIDS.

Before SUS, a large part of blood donations in public banks were made by family and friends of patients admitted to hospitals. Military and police officers were sometimes recruited to avoid losses in the blood supply. No remuneration was made to donors.

In private banks, it was common for donors to be financially compensated. This guaranteed the maintenance of the stock and ended up attracting the poor and vulnerable. Chico Buarque immortalized this distortion in the blood donation process in the song “Vai Trabalho Vagabundo”: “Win at the blood bank / For another day”.

Furthermore, health surveillance was extremely precarious and there was no systematic inspection to detect diseases in donated blood. It was common to acquire hepatitis and syphilis, among other diseases, via blood transfusion. With the arrival of AIDS the situation became even more critical. Betinho, his two brothers and many other people acquired this disease through blood transfusions.

With the 1988 Constitution and the creation of the SUS, the sale of blood became prohibited and all donated blood began to be rigorously tested.

Furthermore, the documentary series shows the difficulty in accessing medicines to treat HIV in the 1980s. Currently, the SUS provides treatment to all people living with HIV or AIDS, in addition to post- and pre-exposure prophylaxis, at no cost.

It is important to understand what healthcare was like in Brazil before the SUS, and by understanding this context, fight for this healthcare system, which is one of society’s greatest achievements. A system on which three quarters of the population depend.

The documentary series shows the importance of solidarity and Betinho’s tireless effort. In a video produced in 2007, during the citizenship action campaign against hunger and for life, Betinho tells a story that represents the metaphor of solidarity.

During a forest fire, animals ran terrified trying to save themselves. A lion stopped when he saw a hummingbird that was taking water from the river, throwing it on the fire and returning to the river to get more water. The lion asked the hummingbird if he thought he could put out the fire alone. The hummingbird replied that he knew he couldn’t put out the fire alone, but that he was doing his part.

And you, are you doing your part? In 2023, Brazil reached the position of ninth economy in the world. However, it is still a country with marked inequalities, hunger, lack of decent housing, security problems, illegal extractive activities in the Amazon, among other challenges that have persisted in society for decades.

Imagine Brazil as a champion in respect for human rights and solidarity…

Instead of criticizing the SUS, remember what Brazil was like before it, and understand that the system works with open and festering scars, the result of years of underfunding that prevent it from operating fully. Instead of criticizing, mobilize, demand rights, do your part, no matter how much you think it won’t be enough.

In 2024, may there be solidarity, empathy, humanity, respect.

For more hummingbirds and fewer lions!

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