September Miracle in Northeastern Brazil!
In a place long forgotten by the industrial enterprises which abused its people and polluted their land, a human-made miracle is taking place.1 From September 2 until September 20, 2024 an asbestos taskforce in Bahia, Brazil is providing free health screening for 450 individuals from the towns of Bom Jesus da Serra, Poções, Caetanos and Planalto. The people eligible for the medical check-ups were identified by municipal health workers as being at high risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases due to occupational, domestic or environmental asbestos exposures.2
 Some of the people invited to attend the introductory session on September 2, 2024. Taskforce organizer Fernanda Giannasi is in the middle of the second row. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
During September 2-13, the taskforce was based in a new high school constructed without any asbestos-containing material in Bom Jesus da Serra; from September 16 until September 20, it will be based in the central area of Poções City.3
The organization of this pioneering outreach project – spearheaded by the Brazilian Association of the Asbestos-Exposed (ABREA) and the ABREA affiliate in Bahia: AVICAFE (Associação das Vítimas Contaminadas pelo Amianto e Famílias Expostas [Association of Asbestos Victims and Exposed Families]) – has taken many months and involved dozens of members of staff from asbestos victims’ groups, medical and logistics departments, local and state agencies, to name but a few. While a pilot screening program had been conducted in Minas Gerais State five years ago, the scope of the Bahia initiative is nearly twice as large.4
As in 2019, the bulk of the funding for this program was allocated from money impounded by the Labor Public Ministry (MPT) from penalties for collective moral damages paid by defendants convicted of failing to provide mandatory occupational protection for their employees. 5
 The mobile CT-scanner housed in the tomography truck supplied by the Barretos Cancer Hospital (Hospital de Amor), São Paulo State arrived at the project’s Bom Jesus da Serra base on August 31, in good time for the official commencement of the program. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
The MPT allocated R$ 540,000+ (US ~$97,000+) to:
- bring a mobile CT scanner to Bom Jesus da Serra – a 1,600+ miles round trip from Barretos, São Paulo – for three weeks;
- facilitate the participation of: oncology specialists from the Barretos Cancer Hospital; and pulmonologists and pneumonologists from the São Paulo Heart Institute (InCor/USP) and Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro who were tasked with issuing medical reports and prescribing treatment;
- purchase a spirometer and computer to increase the taskforce’s diagnostic capacity;
- train local doctors, nurses and physiotherapists to perform clinical examinations and spirometry tests.
 Inside the CT-scanning theater. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
It was a monumental task bringing together people from the diverse stakeholders needed to realize this state-of-the-art outreach initiative. Transporting the huge tomography truck across three States – São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Bahia – was not only expensive but also something of a logistical nightmare. The fact that, to date, everything has gone smoothly is a testament to the detailed planning that was undertaken.
Members of the Bahia cohort of 450 patients are being submitted for clinical examinations, spirometry tests and low-dose lung CTs.
 Pulmonologist Dr. Hermano Albuquerque de Castro from Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro State examining a patient in the company of Dr. Lucas Carlini Tirelli, from the Family and Community Medicine Residency Program of the Municipal Secretariat of São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo State. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
Commenting on the complexity of juggling so many interests and priorities, ABREA Co-founder and taskforce planner and coordinator Fernanda Giannasi explained that despite the many challenges:
“We needed to persevere. For years, these people had been neglected. The lack of medical capacity meant that people continued to die undiagnosed and untreated. Of course, this was a boon to the companies whose behaviour caused their diseases. Without recognition of the asbestos-related diseases, no recompense could be sought. We intend to change this by giving the injured a voice and supporting them in their health and legal struggles. ABREA and AVICAFE could not do this and we are grateful to our partners in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo States. Only a collective effort can lead to the end of the abyssal epidemiological silence that we have in Brazil about diseases related to the exploitation of carcinogenic minerals, such as asbestos, uranium and others. We need to know and recognize the cases of these diseases to allow victims the social protection they are entitled to.”6
The news of the arrival of the Bahia asbestos taskforce was broadcast on local TV and radio channels as well as via national news outlets with taskforce organizers receiving calls from civic leaders and state politicians including Bahia State Governor Jerônimo Rodrigues. On September 2, 2024, Mayor Nilda Magalhães and her Health Secretary Luciana Miranda Vasconcelos made a personal visit to the taskforce headquarters to learn more about its work.
 Third from the left is Poções Health Secretary Luciana Miranda Vasconcelos, fourth from the left Mayor Nilda Magalhães, fifth from the left ABREA Co-Founder Fernanda Giannasi, in charge of logistics for the taskforce. Other people in the photograph are members of the health teams from Vitória da Conquista, Poções and Bom Jesus da Serra. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
Maximizing the opportunities offered by the taskforce’s presence, medical and campaigning experts have taken the opportunity of interacting with members of the community, political leaders and high school students during their time in Bahia.
 Dr. Hermano Albuquerque de Castro, Vice-President of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, giving a lecture at the Bom Jesus da Serra school on September 6, 2024. Picture courtesy of ABREA/AVICAFE. |
According to ABREA President Eliezer João de Souza:
“We are only part way through the Bahia outreach project and we have already had a positive response from a broad spectrum of the community. I am in no doubt that the results will show that many of the people submitted for examinations have some serious diseases. We are working with our colleagues in the municipalities involved and the State government to ensure that there will be timely follow-ups and medical interventions provided for all those suffering from the curse of asbestos.” 7
September 16, 2024
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1 Vilasboas, Z. Exames gratuitos revelam saúde das vítimas do amianto na Bahia [Free tests reveal the health of asbestos victims in Bahia]. September 1, 2024.
2 Many of the local houses and roads were constructed with asbestos-containing waste generated by the mining process.
https://racismoambiental.net.br/2024/09/01/exames-gratuitos-revelam-saude-das-vitimas-do-amianto-na-bahia/
3 The derelict São Félix asbestos mine is located on a farm in Bom Jesus da Serra, formerly in the Poções District. In 1939, when the mine was opened it was owned by Brasilit, a subsidiary of the French Saint-Gobain Group. It was later acquired by the Eternit subsidiary SAMA, which carried out mining chrysotile (white) asbestos for ~30 years before walking away without so much as a backward glance.
Kazan-Allen, L. Brazil: Asbestos Producer, User, Exporter. November 19, 2012.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-brazil-asbestos-producer-user-exporter.php
4 Kazan-Allen, L. Landmark Asbestos Initiative in Brazil. October 2, 2019.
http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-landmark-asbestos-initiative-in-brazil.php
5 MPT viabiliza exames médicos para vítimas de mina de amianto no sudoeste da Bahia [MPT facilitates medical examinations for victims of asbestos mine in southwest Bahia]. August 30, 2024.
https://www.bahianoticias.com.br/justica/noticia/70543-mpt-viabiliza-exames-medicos-para-vitimas-de-mina-de-amianto-no-sudoeste-da-bahia
6 Email from Fernanda Giannasi. September 10, 2024.
7 Email from Eliezer João de Souza September 10, 2024.
