System breakdown: concerns and reflections on the importance of Popular Health Education in pandemic times

Abstract

This academic essay is the result of reflections woven from academic experiences in the Postgraduate Program in Health
Information and Communication (PPGICS) at Fiocruz during the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. In addition to accentuating
and deepening existing social inequalities, such as inequities in health, the lack of access to basic rights such as food, decent
housing, running water and resources to buy masks and resources to protect against the virus, the health crisis demonstrated the lack of preparation of the State to create and strengthen Popular Health Education (EPS) strategies, considering the multiple realities of the different “Brazils”, existing in our country. The denial of basic rights added to the denial of rights such as access to the Internet and the right to communication has also become an aggravating factor for access to education, which even before the pandemic was already precarious. In this essay, we present an example of Popular Health Education (EPS) action, entitled “What Mask?” and we reflect on the difficulties in replicating initiatives like these, when in the absence of what to eat, many people do not even think about prioritizing financial resources to pay for the Internet.