Deaths in Brazil Could Have Been Prevented with Basic Measures, Say Doctors Without Borders

[Judi Lynn]

The country is the only country that makes massive use of the 'covid kit', says the organization's president, Christos Christou

May.3.2021 2:04PM

Patrícia Campos Mello

SÃO PAULO
Many of the 400,000 deaths from Covid-19 in Brazil would have been prevented if the country had adopted basic preventive measures that worked worldwide. This is the view of the Greek doctor Christos Christou, international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an entity that is helping to combat Covid-19 in 90 countries, including Brazil, and has great experience in epidemics.

Christou has just spent five days in Brazil, following the work of MSF in health units in Rondônia and talking to doctors and patients. "Many deaths and suffering could have been prevented in Brazil," he says. "It was enough to do the basics, adopt the measures that worked in many places."

According to him, Brazil is the only country where the population still massively uses drugs without scientific evidence such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. “The 'Covid kit' is not harmless. The doctors who prescribe these drugs do more harm than good to these people,” he says.

Regarding President Jair Bolsonaro, he continued: "This is a real problem. I cannot fail to point to the federal government as responsible for the lack of any consistent message, of a scientific approach, and of a coordinated, centralized response."

"When people understand why something is necessary and useful, they follow the guidelines. People only need the right guidelines. You can't blame the population. You can only blame the people in charge of giving the guidelines and managing the pandemic. "

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2021/05/deaths-in-brazil-could-have-been-prevented-with-basic-measures-say-doctors-without-borders.shtml?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsen

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