What the United States can learn from Brazil

Don’t get me wrong.  There is WAY MORE that the United States can learn from humble Brazil than what I’m about to note.  But let’s just name a couple things.

According to the Brazilian Health Ministry, an estimated 33 million people, or 17 percent of Brazil's population suffer from hypertension and some 7.5 million suffer from diabetes.

If you were a concerned politician and you knew that about 34% of the deaths in your country each year were caused by hypertension- and diabetes-related complications, would you pick your nose up out of the trough long enough to consider a remedy?

Lucky for us we have a socialist-minded president who gets it that helping people AVOID these conditions will save lives and save a gazillion in health care expenses.

As such, Brazil’s new president Dilma announced recently that the government will now provide free hypertension and diabetes medication though the “Popular Pharmacy” program.

The diabetes medication was already available at nearly free prices, but this extends the wellness program even further.

As a further note (and one I extend to my policy maker friends in the US) I will mention that in the case of poor people with cancer, the government also offers a helping hand.

My mother in law is a breast cancer survivor.  When she completed her treatment she was placed on a drug called Tamoxifen, which is designed to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer.  It is state of the art treatment, and it is expensive.  She must take this drug for five years.

Well, my mother in law could not afford the R$500+ needed per month to buy this drug, so she went to the city government and said: “Look, I’m a poor old woman.  I’m retired.  How am I going to afford this drug?  Give me a break.”  And guess what?  The government said “OK, we understand.  We will provide the drug to you for free.”

And so my mother in law receives the drug at no cost to her and continues to live a robust life – and it is worth noting that she did not have to sell her house and all her family’s assets in the process.

Take a note United States.  If a poor country like Brazil can do this for its people, so can you.