Planetary health and health education in Brazil: Facing inequalities
Walter Leal Filho,
José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra,
Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra,
Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto,
Jefferson Traebert,
Gustavo J. Nagy
Affiliations
Walter Leal Filho
Manchester Metropolitan University, Department of Natural Sciences, Chester Street, Manchester M1 5GD, UK; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg, Germany
José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra
University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Centre for Sustainable Development/Research Group on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (GREENS), Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil; Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance, (CEENRG), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Ana Regina de Aguiar Dutra
University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Centre for Sustainable Development/Research Group on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (GREENS), Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Maria Gabriela Mendonça Peixoto
Federal University of Viçosa - Rio Paranaíba Campus. Rio Paranaíba, Minas gerais, Brazil
Jefferson Traebert
Graduate Program in Health Sciences, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Gustavo J. Nagy
Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Uruguay; Corresponding author.
Brazil has the world's fifth-largest population and seventh-largest economy. However, it also has many inequalities, especially in health education, which impacts health sector services. Thus, this article aims to describe the situation of planetary health and health education in Brazil, identifying how current policies support the cause of planetary health. This study had a qualitative approach characterised as exploratory research based on an integrative review and documentary research. The results show that, in recent decades, there have been positive improvements to achieve collective and planetary health, which advocates empathy and pro-environmental and humanitarian attitudes. However, the pursuit of planetary health in Brazil is being influenced by various challenges, ranging from the need for a sound policy framework to provisions of education and training on planetary health. Based on the need to address these deficiencies, the paper suggests some measures which should be considered as part of efforts to realise the potential of planetary health in the fifth largest country in the world.
