“This emergency care unit is equipped for patients to stay for up to 24 hours. There are patients who have been here for more than 15 days.”

“People in a critical condition here die on the street.”

“We feel there’s a big weight on our shoulders.”

“A lot of people act like it’s just normal flu.”

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LETTERING:
Thaiani Daniëls
MSF health promotion and community outreach supervisor

The images you have just seen depict some of the most memorable moments from MSF’s COVID-19 response in Brazil.

Over nearly 18 months, our teams worked tirelessly in 12 states to support Brazil’s national health system, the SUS, and to try and stop the pandemic in its tracks, in the largest operation in MSF’s 30-year history in the country.

LETTERING:
+ than 500 professionals

Along the way, the pandemic challenged us in many unexpected ways and we were forced to adapt and learn.

One of the hardest hit regions was Amazonas state.

It was one of the first states to face a critical situation when it all started in 2020.

The state capital, Manaus, made news headlines around the world in January 2021 when supplies of oxygen were far outstripped by the huge demand.

The health system collapsed. Not only did this affect the city of Manaus; it also had serious consequences for patients in the countryside.

*

LETTERING:
Fábio Biolchini
MSF project coordinator for COVID-19, Manaus

Manaus, Amazonas

People in a critical condition can’t get a hospital bed in the capital.

It's important to understand that Manaus is the only city in the state with intensive care units.

*

MSF witnessed this crisis firsthand in the cities of Tefé and São Gabriel da Cachoeira.

*

LETTERING:
Pierre Van Heddegem
MSF coordinator, COVID-19 emergency projects in Brazil

Tefé, Amazonas

Just this week in the middle of January, three patients died in our hospital in Tefé.

The level of care we can provide in Tefé or São Gabriel da Cachoeira is limited.

If we had been able to refer those patients to Manaus, they would have had a chance of survival.

*

Fuelling the cycle of disease and death, misinformation about COVID-19 circulated throughout the country.

We saw this on a daily basis in our projects in Rondônia:

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LETTERING:
Jamila Costa
MSF nurse
Porto Velho, Rondônia

This so-called preventive treatment is being promoted and people are misusing the medications.

They think the "preventive treatment" will solve everything. When they finally seek medical care they are already in a moderate-to-severe condition and end up dying.


*

LETTERING:
Pandemic in Brazil

+ than 51 million cases of COVID-19

+ than 600,000 deaths
*As of October 2021

Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul

Tefé, Amazonas

Manaus, Amazonas

Fortaleza, Ceará

Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro

Xique-Xique, Bahia

Portel, Pará

Boa Vista, Roraima

There is no denying that we witnessed a lot of suffering and death that could have been avoided.

With so much demand and with only limited resources, MSF had to find ways to care for and reduce the suffering of those people within our reach.

We provided patients with medical treatment and psychological care; we spread health promotion messages; we carried out rapid testing; and we trained hundreds of health professionals and communities.

From the homeless to migrants to indigenous people.
*
LETTERING:
Inácio
Community leader
São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas

This is the first team to come here and bring this knowledge.

*

From intensive care to palliative care.

LETTERING:
Mônica Carvalho
MSF coordinator, palliative care project

São Paulo, São Paulo

We understand that reducing suffering is also a way to save lives.

*

From running mobile clinics in big cities to working in isolated rural communities.

*

We don't know what lies ahead, but we can bring comfort and humanity to those who need it most.

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LETTERING:
Christos Christou
MSF international president

Ji-Paraná, Rondônia

We spoke to nurses, we spoke to doctors, to people in the communities, and we spoke to patients.

They thanked us for being here and helping them... for providing some guidance, protocols, psychological support.

But, at the end of the day, what we gave to them was hope to carry on.