Empowering women in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil is a middle-income country, with a fertility rate of 2·1 children per woman, and a health-care system that guarantees universal free access—the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). It has vibrant social organisations, in which activists from the feminist movement have influenced the development and implementation of progressive national women's health policies. Hospital births account for 96% of all births (and more than 99% in urban areas). Despite increases in investment in health-care provision, maternal mortality rates have remained high for more than a decade, although capture of accurate mortality data remains a problem.