Brazil’s Engagement in Health Co-operation: What can it Contribute to the Global Health Debate?

Abstract

This commentary draws on a study on Brazilian projects inAfrica (Russo et al.2011) and the authors’ direct involvementwith Brazilian health co-operation to argue that, althoughshaped by its foreign policy goals, Brazil’s engagement iscontributing to a shift in the discourse on health developmentco-operation, by offering home-grown examples of healthdevelopment, by adopting new concepts of health co-operationand by leading unusually bold action on key global health issues.The consideration also emerges that Brazilian health co-oper-ation, being relatively young and still learning its trade, wouldalso benefit from a deeper engagement in the discussion oneffectiveness and sustainability of development interventions.