An Analysis of the Historical Trajectory and Actions of the Environment Health Working Group of the Brazilian Collective Health Association (ABRASCO)

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to retrace the historical path of a Health and Environment Working Group (GTSA) constituted by a professional association (Brazilian Collective Health Association - ABRASCO) to address the relationships that are established between health and the environment, understood in their socio-ecological dimension. The method used was document analysis and interviews with informed informants. The experiences lived by the group were systematized according to the science/politics/ actions (collective) dimensions, which were analyzed as to their reciprocal relations. Changes in approaches and expansions of knowledge objects and of the group’s actions, contingent upon the different political, social, economic, health and environmental junctures observed in Brazilian reality, were identified . In part, such changes were conceived and could be made thanks to the group’s maturity in scientific, technical and political terms. These changes occurred in view of the worsening of environmental problems and their dire consequences for the health and the living and working conditions of the populations that are subjected to them. This is compounded, by the State’s gradual withdrawal from and denial of these problems, which has resulted in a reversal of public policies. Against this backdrop, its critical thinking lead the GTSA to prioritize its practice in partnership with social movements. Finally, the GTSA came up with its own way of dealing with health and environmental issues in Brazil, developing a potential repertoire of ways to generate and use knowledge and knowhow on a collective scale for the maintenance of life and health in a healthy environment.