Contested Epidemics

Policy Responses in Brazil and the US and What the BRICS Can Learn

Despite their similar political and economic structures, Brazil and the United States have contrasting relationships with the international community as well as different policy approaches to the prevention and treatment of epidemics. In this regard, an interesting empirical puzzle arises: how and why was Brazil able to outpace the United States in its health policy response to epidemics?

The aim of this book is to introduce a new, comparative area of scholarly research, combining for the first time international relations and domestic institutional theory to examine the United States and Brazil's health policy systems and their respective responses to epidemics. Conclusions are drawn from an in-depth examination of the actions taken and policies made with regard to tuberculosis, polio and HIV/AIDS epidemics in the two countries. Finally, the questions of what emerging BRICS nations can learn from the case of Brazil and to what extent they can adopt Brazil's innovative institutional and policy response to epidemics is considered, with a look to the future of global health diplomacy.

This is the first book of its kind to compare the United States and Brazil in such a way, as well as the first to consider what other emerging BRICS countries can learn from Brazil. This fascinating comparison is a must-read for health policy and medical practitioners, academic scholars and students, and the general public with an interest in the international and domestic political conditions leading to policy adoption and implementation.

Contents:

• Introduction
• 20th Century Responses to Contested Epidemics in the United States and Brazil
• Contesting AIDS in the United States
• Contesting AIDS in Brazil
• Contesting Obesity in the United States
• Contesting Tuberculosis in Brazil
• Reforms in the BRICS and What They Can Learn from Brazil
• Conclusion

Readership: Academic scholars, policy practitioners, students, and the general public.
Key Features:

• This is the first book to compare the US and Brazil on the politics of health policy response to epidemics
• This is the first book to explain how an emerging nation, like Brazil, can provide health policy lessons to the US
• This is the first book to combine in-depth historical analysis with a contemporary case study analysis of health epidemics in the US and Brazil
• This is the first book to compare the politics of domestic and global health policy in the BRICS nations, with an emphasis on what these other emerging nations can learn from Brazil