The Covid-19 pandemic exposed longstanding inequalities in healthcare access worldwide, particularly in Brazil. These disparities were especially evident in access to hospital beds and vaccines, disproportionately affecting low-income communities in major cities and regions with lower human development indices.

In response, the Vacina Maré project was launched in 2021 to expand vaccination coverage and study health data in favelas during the pandemic. This ongoing initiative was developed by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Redes da Maré organization, and the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, with support from the D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) and several other research institutions.

The Maré Complex, home to 16 favelas and approximately 140,000 residents, became a focal point for community-driven health interventions. Among these efforts, Vacina Maré stood out as part of a broader strategy that included vaccination campaigns, local health surveillance, telemedicine support, social assistance, and risk communication. The initiative’s success was largely due to the massive engagement of the local population, which led to international recognition, including presentations at the World Health Organization (WHO), the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and various global research centers.

Mass General Brigham study of more than 11,000 adolescents and young adults found those who took buprenorphine for 12 months had almost half the risk of overdose compared to those who discontinued early

New research is uncovering how medications targeting the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) system affect brain circuits involved in nausea, thirst, and pleasurable behaviors. These findings will be presented at Neuroscience 2025, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.