RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Covid-19 pandemic has further compounded a problem that affects many Brazilians: anxiety. Research conducted by the NGO Gerando Falcões, in partnership with the Locomotiva Institute, shows that 36% of people living in Brazilian favelas suffer from anxiety.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that Brazil is the most anxious country in the world, with 19 million people with the disorder, about 9% of the population. In other words, the situation in the favelas is much higher than the national average.
The survey was conducted with 2,939 people over the age of 16 in 13 Brazilian states between the months of September 2020 and February 2021. Most respondents were interviewed in-person, to better understand people’s living circumstances.
According to Edu Lyra, founder of Gerando Falcões, this situation is devastating at a time of income loss – 78% of favela residents saw their income shrink during the pandemic – and with precarious access to the National Health System (SUS) services. Another piece of data from the survey shows that although 85% claim that there is health care in the neighborhood, 25% rate it as bad or terrible.
“Ninety percent of the favela population doesn’t have a health plan. Lack of access to quality health care increases social vulnerability. If the pandemic ended today, we would go back ten steps. Mental health is shaken, no one is happy living on handouts, with economic and social insecurity. This has a devastating psychological effect on people’s minds,” says Edu Lyra, who works with almost 700 favelas around the country.
Anxiety is worse among women and people with an income of up to one minimum wage. In these two groups, more than 50% say they are worried about their mental health.
The survey also assessed how the imprisonment of family members impacts the lives of favela residents. Among respondents, 51% stated that they know people who have a relative in prison. Among those who said they had a relative in prison, 41% said they had been victims of prejudice as a result.
“Most of the favela is discouraged that change can be systemic. They don’t believe that transformation will come from institutional organizations. My main focus and effort is the 3D Favela project, in which we are doing a systemic intervention: interrupting the poverty cycle in the region, with professional training, income generation, and emancipation,” says Edu Lyra.
The project is currently being implemented in a favela in São José do Rio Preto, in the interior of São Paulo state. Lyra explains that everything is being done in partnership with the city hall, the São Paulo state government, and private enterprise. With the help of entrepreneur Jorge Paulo Lemann, a friend of Edu Lyra, R$15 (US$2.8) million were raised, 90% of the amount needed to execute the project over the next two and a half years.
“This research shows that the coronavirus mainly affects the poorest, further increasing social vulnerability. Gerando Falcões has a number of actions in the favelas, public policies to take the favela to the museum. We needed data and information”, explains Renato Meirelles, from the Locomotiva Institute.
Source: Exame