Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on families affected by the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Nunes Santos, Amanda Luize
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Rosário, Luciana Alves
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista da Defensoria Pública do Distrito Federal (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://revista.defensoria.df.gov.br/revista/index.php/revista/article/view/81

The purpose of this article is to discuss the Brazilian State's response to the Zika virus epidemic in the area of social protection and how this response helped to potentialize the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for children with the congenital Zika virus syndrome (CZVS) and their families. To defend this thesis, at first, socioeconomic characteristics of the population most affected by the Zika virus epidemic are presented. Then, the article points out how the Brazilian State has been responding to protect this population from a situation of extreme vulnerability and other rights violations. The conclusion is that the measures taken are limited and do not consider the Brazilian State's history of negligence behind the Zika epidemic. This study involved an analysis of Brazilian federal Laws No. 8.742/1993 and No. 13.985/2020, which regulate the access to social protection and a specific benefit for children diagnosed with CZVS, and the judicial review process of Law No. 13.301/2016, which previously regulates this social protection. Finally, based on a comparative analysis of the population most affected by each one of those public health emergencies, it is shown how people most affected by Zika have been affected by the new pandemic. The article's thesis is that they face a situation of double victimization and discrimination.