Zika has disappeared from the headlines. Soon after the World Health Organization’s decision to declare the end of the global public health emergency in November 2016, Brazil made its own declaration about the national public health emergency in May 2017. It is easy to now say that the virus is at most spreading at a slow, non-threatening way. But, for the nearly forgotten, more than 14,000 Brazilian families affected by suspected cases of congenital Zika syndrome and the 2,800 families with confirmed cases, the lasting impacts of the epidemic are very real.
To help bring attention to the continued invisibility of the many young, poor, black and brown Brazilian women and children affected by the epidemic, Anis – Institute of Bioethics announces the release of Zika: From the Brazilian Backlands to Global Threat. Zika was written by its leading researcher Debora Diniz and is the English translation of the book first published in Brazil in August 2016.
Reflecting on the year that has passed between the launching of her book in Brazil and its international launch, Diniz, who also directed the documentary Zika, stresses the continued lack of supports for families affected by one of the country’s most devastating public health crisis: “In the last year, we brought a case before the Supreme Court demanding access to information and social protection. We also published a report showing that, in Alagoas, the least developed state in the country, 3 out of 4 women with babies affected by Zika had their first pregnancies in their teenage years. Families have come together in community groups to fight for their rights. But the Zika epidemic is a product of Brazil’s shocking social inequality, so the government has remained mostly indifferent. The quieter they are, the louder we need to be”.
Zika is now available for purchase at the Zed Books website, where the result of Diniz’s research journey is described as “a vivid picture of the Zika epidemic, exposing the Brazilian government’s complicity in allowing the virus to spread while championing the efforts of local doctors and mothers who, working together, are raising awareness of the virus and fighting for the rights of children affected by Zika.”
“A compassionate and inclusive look at the impact of the Zika epidemic: from the mothers of affected babies to the race for an effective treatment.”
Laura Rodrigues, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
“‘Ingeniously crafted and affectingly narrated, Zika is a momentous contribution to the critical study of science and global health.“
João Biehl, Princeton University, US
“Diniz illustrates the devastating effects that Zika’s spread has had on impoverished women, and how government scientists and policy makers failed to live up to their responsibilities toward those affected. A brilliant read, highly recommended!“
Udo Schuklenk, Queen’s University, Canada
“A masterfully researched and wide-ranging narrative of Zika in Brazil. Unforgettable.“
Kearsley Stewart, Duke University, US