The 2016 Rio Olympics are underway, and the opening ceremony on August 5 showed the world a brilliant technicolor display of Brazilian culture. The Olympics are a time to celebrate diversity and discover different customs. However, they also push host countries under a bright spotlight — often less positive aspects are brought to light.
This week, journalists have reported on the poor water quality in Rio, as well as political corruption and contentious impeachment trial for President Dilma Rousseff. To paint a deeper picture of what life is like in Brazil, HeathGrove, a health and data visualization site powered by Graphiq, found out which causes of death occur at a higher rate in Brazil compared to the rest of the world.
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Using data from the Global Health Data Exchange, HealthGrove compared global mortality rates to their mortality rate in Brazil and found the 25 causes of death that occur at higher rates in Brazil. People are more likely to die from certain cancers and other chronic conditions like diabetes in Brazil. Perhaps this is because, although Brazil has public healthcare available to all citizens, many hospitals are significantly lacking in space, technology, medicine and doctors.
It is not a chronic condition, but rather a protozoan parasite, that people are nearly 26 times more likely to die of in Brazil compared to the rest of the world. There is an effective, anti-parasitic drug to rid the body of these parasites if caught early on, but this disease remains a serious problem for Brazilians. Another common cause of death does not have to do with disease at all, but violence inflicted by the hands of others. Behind the colorful facade, there are complications plaguing this country.
