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Here is another guest post by Ms. Gringa da Silva. Hope you enjoy
it!
Hello my pretties, it's is me, Ms. Gringa,
Adler and I have been having scheduling issues, so the posting of
a weekly column is somewhat skewed at the moment.
Fear not, however, Ms. Gringa is here to help you, always.
So, this week’s post is about health care, hospitals, insurance
and stuff like that.
Ms. Gringa has spent the last week running back and forth to the
toilet with a nasty touch of Delhi Belly. What started out as an innocent night
out and a lovely dinner, turned into a full blown mess which eventually led to
going to the hospital. Fun.
Add to this, Ms. Gringa has not had caipirinha in more than a
week.
Before you come to Brazil, you really do need to ensure that you
go to the dentist, have your annual check-ups, get whatever vaccinations you
need updated, or added and if needed collect a refill of your prescriptions, (carry
your paper prescriptions with you, you might be asked to prove that the pills
are for you and don't carry too many or someone may assume you are importing
them for resale) favorite supplements, contact lens solution and so on.
Not because Brazil does not have adequate medical services or
equivalents, but because you really don't want to be bothering with this stuff
as soon as you land.
Remember, if you are bringing something that the customs
declaration form wants you to declare, then declare it. No one gives a damn
unless it is illegal, but paperwork is The King, so fill it out, for heaven’s
sake. You could be turned away at the border for being inconvenient if you do
not...
You will need Hepatitis A and B vaccines. You should get Yellow
Fever, regardless of whatever the websites may tell you. Remembering that Border
Control is always looking for a reason, so don't give them one. Make sure
your Tetanus is up to date, and whatever that Jenny McCartney may have to say
about it, also MMR if you did not get it as a child for some strange reason.
If you don't have a Polio vaccine, you are beyond help, so don't
come to Brazil.
Unless you plan on being in some extremely undeveloped area,
drinking untreated water and bathing in a polluted river, you do not need a
Typhoid vaccine.
Malaria Prophylactics? It depends on where you will be going.
Dengue Fever is far more prevalent and preventing bites is always desirable.
The Malaria Prophylactics are available here by the way.
Unless you need to take them, don't. You might be taking medicine
for no reason and allowing the spread of potentially drug resistant malaria to
proliferate.
Children will be possibly required to show proof at the border of
the basic childhood vaccines, but adults typically might be only required to
show proof of Yellow Fever Vaccine.
All vaccines and medicines and procedures and mosquito repellents
and life come with potential problems and side effects and issues, so remember
to talk with your doctor, and also remember, Ms. Gringa da Silva and Adler
Martins ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE for what you do or what happens to you if you
do it, these words in this post are just suggestions, after all. Everyone hates
legal disclaimers, but it is a litigious word and people tend to behave like
spoiled children, versus adults responsible for their own actions, so they are
needed.
Now, onwards. Get travel insurance before you come and get the
complete package. Coming to Brazil and being in Brazil without insurance is
about as smart as swimming in shark infested waters with a bacon bikini on.
If you are planning to be here a while, you will need private
health insurance. To get this in the best way, it is good to get an insurance
broker, who for a fee, will run the gauntlet of paperwork and red-tape and
other nonsense for you. Inquire from your co-workers and Brazilian friends as
to what provider and broker is the best one for your needs.
Word of mouth is a much better indicator of quality and
reliability here than any other thing or advertisement.
The caveat is that Brazilian providers will not provide you with
health insurance without CPF and RNE numbers. We will be going
into great detail about how to obtain those things soon, I promise. (and the
caipirinha scale will go up exponentially as we discuss them) In the
meantime, make sure your travel and health insurance from your home country
covers the time you will be in Brazil until such a time as you being able to
get the relevant thing here.
Private hospitals in Brazil are great, but like everything else,
they involve paperwork and are exacting in their methods. Deal with it. In a
private hospital you can complain, but unless you are being kicked around, be
an adult and deal with it like the Brazilians standing beside you do.
You will be able to obtain medical care of sorts here without
private insurance, but it is not recommended and it may end up costing you a
great deal of time and money, inconvenience and is not reliable. You won't be
allowed to die or anything and your Embassy might help you in any case if it is
serious.
The Brazilian Government provides a health care system called SUS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_%C3%9Anico_de_Sa%C3%BAde Ms. Gringa does
not know much about it, just poorly understood second hand accounts from people
who work for me, with me, or that I know. It is available to foreigners of
course, but really, if you can afford to come here, you can afford travel
insurance at least. I can’t stress this enough.
Adler will go into more detail about SUS in other posts on his
blog.
Ms. Gringa needs to go back to bed now.
The above annoyances and inconveniences range from a 1 to a 2 on
the caipirinha scale. Not having insurance in Brazil and needing it, will land
you a 5 on the caipirinha scale, trust me.
We will return to our regularly scheduled bureaucracy discussions
forthwith.
So, my pretties, until next time, yours in the spirit of cachaça,
Ms. Gringa da Silva
All rights reserved © 2013 by Ms. Gringa da Silva
(http://msgringadasilva.orgfree.com/)
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