Care After Zika: Parenting Disabled Children in the Wake of an Epidemic in Brazil

A decade ago, an outbreak of Zika virus in northeastern Brazil spurred an international public health emergency. Zika's urgency came in large part from its link to congenital malformations in thousands of babies born across the Americas, many of whom have grown up with multiple disabilities. In the years since the outbreak, affected families in Brazil, most of whom are racially and economically marginalized, have been working to forge infrastructures of care and fighting for health justice for their children. In this Think Global event, medical anthropologist Eliza Williamson, PhD, will discuss insights from ten years of research on lived experiences of disability and caregiving in the aftermath of the Zika crisis in Bahia, Brazil. DGHI professors Harris Solomon, PhD, MPH, and Aunchalee Palmquist, PhD will provide comments and lead a discussion on the importance of ethnographic research for global health equity.