{"id":39564,"date":"2017-12-06T11:09:53","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T14:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=39564"},"modified":"2017-12-08T11:28:26","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T14:28:26","slug":"pediatrician-dr-daniel-becker-reflects-on-childrens-health-in-favelas-and-on-the-asphalt-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=39564","title":{"rendered":"Pediatrician Daniel Becker Reflects on Children’s Health in Favelas and the ‘Asphalt’ [INTERVIEW]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Por<\/strong>tugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Prominent pediatrician and community health expert Daniel Becker received his medical degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the National School of Public Health (ENSP) at Fiocruz, Brazil’s national institute of health. As well as attending to and treating children for years in his private practice, he is also an Ashoka Fellow<\/a>, an international organization that recognizes and supports social entrepreneurs<\/a>. He was selected for the Ashoka Fellowship for his role in CEDAPS<\/a> (Center for the Promotion of Health), an NGO founded in 1993 which partners with local representatives to promote healthcare in hundreds of Rio favelas. His Facebook page, Pediatra Integral <\/i><\/a>(Whole Pediatrics), currently has more than 76,000 likes. He also has a YouTube channel called\u00a0Canal Criar e Crescer<\/a> <\/i>(Raise and Grow Channel).<\/i>\u00a0Becker has appeared on the national talk show\u00a0Roda Viva<\/i><\/a> to speak about childhood in Brazil today. RioOnWatch <\/i>interviewed Becker about his path and his thoughts on the current situation facing youth both in the favelas and the ‘asphalt’<\/a> (as the ‘formal city’ is known in Rio).<\/p>\n

RioOnWatch<\/i>: Can you tell us briefly about your career path as a pediatrician? When and where did it begin, and in what capacities have you worked in low-income and high-income communities?<\/h3>\n

Becker:<\/b> I began my life as a pediatrician thirty years ago, and I did my residency in pediatrics at UFRJ. Not long after that I went overseas. I trained in France for two years in clinical pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and social pediatrics, and then I spent nearly a year with Doctors Without Borders<\/a> in Thailand, working with Cambodian refugees. When I returned home, I joined the NGO CEDAPS<\/a>, which was working in a favela called Vila Canoas<\/a>, and we started a little health center there. I began as a pediatrician, but later became the coordinator of the project, which was supported by the Dreyfus Health Foundation from the US. We realized we were just doing more of the same\u2014we were replicating what already existed in the local health centers and, at the time, we weren’t making much of a difference in the lives of that population.<\/p>\n

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So we decided to change our approach and create a model that would foster a connection with the community based on a responsible relationship, an exchange. We studied our options a little and looked at Cuban and English models<\/a>. We decided to initiate a community health representative role, which was already being successfully implemented in the Brazilian state of Cear\u00e1. And then we launched the first Family Health team in Rio. We were therefore pioneers in the Family Health Program<\/a> in Rio, and along with other entities in S\u00e3o Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, Cear\u00e1, and Niter\u00f3i, we brought this idea to the Ministry of Health, which adopted and expanded the program, making it the principal health policy in Brazil, a source of pride for us in the international community.<\/p>\n

So this is something I\u2019m very proud of. I was one of the pioneers of this model, which is the most appropriate model for serving working-class communities. You\u2019ve got the healthcare team together with the community, working where the community is located, where people live. We can get a better understanding of what people\u2019s needs are when we see where they\u2019re living. And then we started working with this idea of promoting health, which is the idea that you don\u2019t achieve health through medical care<\/a>. Health is achieved through development, through care, through good nutrition, through good housing, through recreation, culture, education, peace and security. Rights, right?! Fundamental rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The work began to strengthen the communities, empowering community leaders<\/a> to further promote health in their areas. This went on for 20, almost 25 years. But then the foundation that was funding us closed its doors.<\/p>\n

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From that time on I’ve dedicated myself more to my private practice<\/a> which has turned out really well. Today I’m part of CEDAPS’ advisory board.<\/p>\n

So my experience with communities is not only about pediatrics\u2014it’s about the life, the day-to-day of the children, and their families in general. In my private practice I work with middle- and upper-class families and children who can afford to pay a pediatrician who doesn\u2019t take insurance. But in my broader practice, I\u2019ve continued to be concerned with society as a whole. I don\u2019t restrict myself to the world of the family. I always try to understand and help others reflect on the social, environmental, and cultural context that surrounds us. So I began to join discussions<\/a>, to talk, to give lectures<\/a>, and to write in my blog<\/a> about what it’s like to be a father and mother nowadays, in the 21st century, taking into account the conditions we live in in Brazil and the characteristics of our society, and I try to help people understand that social factors are very influential in our family lives and in the way we raise our children.<\/p>\n

RioOnWatch<\/i>: Was it in this period that you did the TEDx Talk?<\/h3>\n

Becker:<\/b> The TEDx Talk was during that time, in 2015. The talk was in fact a synthesis of various issues, which I summarized in this idea of \u201cseven sins<\/a>.\u201d I\u2019m currently writing a book about this, too, for [publisher] Editora Objetiva.<\/p>\n

The \u201cseven sins\u201d being committed against children today, according to Dr. Daniel Becker:<\/p>\n

1. Deprivation of natural birth and breastfeeding
\n2. The outsourcing of childhood
\n3. The intoxication of childhood
\n4. Confinement and perpetual distraction
\n5. The commercialization of childhood and childhood consumerism
\n6. Premature adulthood and the eroticization of children
\n7. The placement of children on a pedestal and the overprotection of childhood<\/p><\/blockquote>\n