ADUSEPS Risco de Vida

Objectives of ADUSEPS

Risco de Vida

The Aims of Risco de Vida
The Risco de Vida or "Risk of Life" project takes place once a year, during the World Health Week, in the emergency departments of the major hospitals in Pernambuco. The aim of this project is to visit the hospitals of Pernambuco, to ensure they are working correctly and treating patients fairly. Risco de Vida also aims to identify the users of the public health system which are in a serious state, and inform them of their rights, and fight for dignified and accessible health.

The Problems
Public hospitals in Pernambuco are very poor, and have very poor living conditions, with patients often lining the floors of the corridors as there are not enough beds. The population - particularly those of the lower socio-economic class - are not aware that they have rights by law, to fair and equitable healthcare. This situation makes it easy for hospitals to abuse the rights of their patients, in some cases refusing healthcare altogether.

What we do
Risco de Vida is composed of a team of qualified professional health workers who visit the public hospitals of Pernambuco every year during World Health Week. These professionals assess the hospitals - in particular the emergency departments where the most serious cases are often found - and check their procedures, their treatment methods, the way they are treating patients, the living conditions and the general functioning of the hospital. When descrepancies and failures are found, the Risco de Vida team try to correct them. This may mean talking to the hospitals or other authorities about the problems, or taking the issue to court to force change in the hospital's policies.

This project is another way ADUSEPS supervises the public and private healthcare systems, improves the service of the system and raises public awareness of the population's rights to fair and equitable healthcare.

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