This article traces the development of anthropological research on health in Brazil in light of discussions on modernity/coloniality and world anthropologies. Originating in the 1970s, stimulated by external and internal pressures for scientific production and along with the expansion of graduate programs, a network of anthropologists has consolidated and multiplied in Brazil. We describe the development of research groups, meetings, and publications in order to characterize Brazilian anthropology of health as a research program that distinguishes itself from North Atlantic medical anthropology. We examine the visibility and circulation of references in academic publications to explore the participation of Brazilians in the global discourse and, more specifically, in the North-South dialogue. From a comparative perspective, we argue that anthropological investigations of health reflect a perspective and ethos distinctive to Brazil and its historical and political processes.

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The Koster Health Project, initiated in 1987, is an interdisciplinary development project with a focus on human ecology. The objectives are to use relatively simple methods of medical and odontological annual examinations to carry out a 10-year longitudinal study of how life situations and life style factors may direct the development of individual's health in a sparse, geographically rather isolated and socially static, rural population in which it is possible to compare older and younger generations. An investigative model is established on the Koster islands and in this model assessments of given health criteria and other preventive medical, odontological and psychosocial measures may be followed up. Furthermore, the effects of environmental changes may be ascertained. Based on the experiences from the Koster Health Project, national and international seminars are arranged on the islands with emphasis on the impact of environment and life style on human health. The nutritional questions are the centre of specific interest.

Maj-Lis

The paper intends to clarify the Brazilian foreign policy concerning AIDS treatment in Africa. The building of an AIDS drug plant in Mozambique is the concrete example of the diplomatic evolution showed by Brazil in the past few years – evolution that is detailed in the present article.

The aim of this article is to explore how international donors influence civil society organisations (CSOs) in Mozambique through funding mechanisms, the creation of partnerships, or inclusion in targeted programmes. The main focus is the relationship between donors and AIDS non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The main questions the paper aims to answer are: Who is setting the agenda? What power mechanisms are in place to fulfil planned projects and programmes? Are there any forms of resistance from civil society AIDS-organisations in the face of the donor interventions? The actions will be analysed through the lens of governmentality theory. The study concluded that donors have the power to set the agenda through predetermined programmes and using various technologies. Their strongest weapons are audit mechanisms such as the result based management model used as a control mechanism, and there is still a long way to go to achieve a situation with multiple forms of local resistance to the conditions set by economically powerful donors. The standardisation imposed through clustering donors into like-minded groups and other constellations gives them power to govern the politics of AIDS.