Vera Cordeiro
Encyclopedia
Vera Cordeiro is a social entrepreneur and physician.
Cordeiro was awarded the Brazil Ashoka Fellow
for reforming the Brazilian health care system. She worked at the public Hospital da Lagoa as a pediatrician which serves some of Rio de Janeiro
’s poorest areas including the Baixada Fluminense
(lowland slums) and Rocinha
(Latin America’s largest favela
).
Children are typically hospitalized, suffering from serious cases of pneumonia
, tuberculosis
, rheumatic fever
, anaemia and quite commonly leptospirosis
and subsequently released without having the necessary resources to continue their treatment at home. Being released into the conditions that make children sick in the first place results in a constant hospital admission/re-admission cycle.
Cordeiro founded Associação Saúde Criança Renascer in 1991, which works with severely ill children of poor families to help them receive nutrition, sanitation, and psychological support after discharge from hospital. Renascer tries to address the root causes that prevent families from providing adequate care. The approach combines government, community, and professional support networks. Renascer has been recognized as a national model and has spread to 14 other associations across Brazil.
Cordeiro was awarded the Brazil Ashoka Fellow
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA, supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs through a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of...
for reforming the Brazilian health care system. She worked at the public Hospital da Lagoa as a pediatrician which serves some of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
’s poorest areas including the Baixada Fluminense
Baixada Fluminense
The Baixada Fluminense is a region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between the city of Rio de Janeiro to the south and the Serra dos Órgãos hills to the north, and bordering on Guanabara Bay. Its government is separate from that of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but depending on the writer it...
(lowland slums) and Rocinha
Rocinha
Rocinha is the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is located in Rio's South Zone between the districts of São Conrado and Gávea. Rocinha is built on a steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, and is located about one kilometre from a nearby beach...
(Latin America’s largest favela
Favela
A favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
).
Children are typically hospitalized, suffering from serious cases of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...
, anaemia and quite commonly leptospirosis
Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is caused by infection with bacteria of the genus Leptospira, and affects humans as well as other mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.The...
and subsequently released without having the necessary resources to continue their treatment at home. Being released into the conditions that make children sick in the first place results in a constant hospital admission/re-admission cycle.
Cordeiro founded Associação Saúde Criança Renascer in 1991, which works with severely ill children of poor families to help them receive nutrition, sanitation, and psychological support after discharge from hospital. Renascer tries to address the root causes that prevent families from providing adequate care. The approach combines government, community, and professional support networks. Renascer has been recognized as a national model and has spread to 14 other associations across Brazil.