The Right to Protection of Life and Health
One organization that has stepped up in its efforts in health care is the Chapéu Mangueira Community Health Care Center…
In Chapéu Mangueira, a favela located in Leme and bordering another favela Babolonia, the government has little to do with its Community Health Center. The health center would welcome government funding but realize that until then, the community must continue to work together in order to keep the center up and running. Both Babilonia and Chapéu Mangueira depend on the services provided from the center.
The health center sees an average of 20 patients a day. Most of the patients come to the health center but for those who cannot get to the bottom of the hill, the doctor will make house calls. All of the medicine and supplies are donated by the community, and the center would not run without these donations.
The health center is free for anyone who needs it, but some patients contribute when they can because they realize without their donations, the health center would not exist. The health center is completely ran by the community and is operated by all volunteers; there are two dentists, a gynecologist, a pediatrician, a general clinician and child psychologist who visits the center as needed. The gynecologist is there often, but has not returned due to violence in the area. All of the doctors have jobs outside the center and when supplies run low, they bring in more from the hospitals and clinics where they work.
The low supplies have become an issue for the dentist in Chapéu Mangueira. The dentists at the health center can only tend to the children, because there are not enough supplies to work on both children and adults. The dentists visit the daycare, where he takes two children in at a time, and gives them check-ups.
Though this center only sees and average of 20 patients a day, the community has joined together to turn the situation in both communities around. Until the government takes the actions of thses health care workers seriously, and prvided them with the materials and resources needed to provide adequate services to the ppl in both communites, these communities will continue to pull together every resource in order to provide themselves the basic right to the protection of life and health.