At the height of the pandemic, entrepreneurs unite to change Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Few situations illustrate so shockingly the challenge faced by the Brazilian state in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic as the lack of oxygen in hospitals. As a result of the advance of the strain detected in Manaus, more infectious and lethal than the others, the number of severe cases of the disease has been increasing in all Brazilian regions since early this year.

Coupled with a vaccination rate that was too slow for the urgency of the moment – just over 10% of the Brazilian population has been administered one dose – the pandemic caused the collapse of health care in the country. The chaos in hospitals was illustrated on March 22 when Ambev, the largest brewery in the country, announced the construction of an oxygen production plant, in an attempt to afford critically ill patients the basic right to keep breathing.

Ambev is not alone in this endeavor. Dozens of other businesses have donated time, personnel, and resources to make the gas reach the intensive care rooms. Coordinating part of these logistics was one of the tasks of Pedro Zahran Turqueto, vice-president and member of the founding family of Copagaz, one of the main manufacturers of cooking gas in the country, an item that, like food and beverages, requires a smooth distribution system, with thousands of trucks across the country to reach consumers.

“We are responsible for the flow of oxygen to the end-user,” says Turqueto. Since last year, Copagaz has spent R$3 million (US$535,000) in the fight against the pandemic. A good part of the resources went to masks and other protective equipment for health professionals in Mato Grosso do Sul, where the company started its business in 1955. “It is in the company’s DNA to contribute to society,” he says.

The measures taken by companies like Ambev and Copagaz are part of a reaction from the Brazilian business community in the search for quick solutions in the fight against the pandemic. In part, it is a replay of a solidarity effort seen last year, when the pandemic was still a novelty. From March to May last year, Brazilian companies donated close to R$5 billion (US$892 million), according to ABCR, an association dedicated to fundraising for the non-profit sector.

With a monthly average of nearly R$2 billion, solidarity against the pandemic has reached record levels in the country. To get an idea, this volume is close to everything that is donated to the non-profit sector in Brazil in a whole year. But from the beginning of 2020 on, the volume of resources has been dropping monthly, until it reached a few tens of millions of reais in December, as the number of cases dropped and the injection of public resources, through emergency aid from the federal government, was somehow mitigating the drama experienced by Brazilians.

The horror caused by the hospital collapse resulting from the advance of the new strain, however, has prompted a second wave of private solidarity – this time with ambitions of leaving a more lasting mark. In March, the pandemic disbursements exceeded R$100 million for the first time since October last year, says ABCR.

Although the pandemic is the same, much has changed from March last year to now. If before companies had the capital and willingness to organize large donations, today they are in a tighter financial position and are trying to be more assertive.

“Companies are decapitalized and more fatigued. I see that entrepreneurs are concerned about taking care of the people who work with them,” says Daniel Castanho, chairman of the board of Anima Education. Castanho, in 2020, was one of the organizers of the #nondemita movement, which tried to ensure job stability in the first two months of the crisis.

Behind the renewed spirit of corporate donations at this time of the pandemic is the realization that private enterprise has a growing responsibility to Brazilian society. “We are committing ourselves, once again, because we understand that the demand has not changed, but it has grown,” says Lorival Luz, CEO of the global food giant BRF, which recently announced the disbursement of another R$50 million against the pandemic – the company had already invested a similar amount last year.

The funds will go to equip hospitals in 15 states, in addition to supporting initiatives to fight hunger in the country. For Luz, the legitimacy of corporate actions is what will permeate the social action in this new year of pandemic, as well as in the future.

“If something is done for public benefit, it will be perennial,” he says. JBS, another giant in the food chain, counts more than R$400 million allocated against the pandemic since last year – almost 90% of that in the construction and renovation of hospitals, purchase of medical equipment, and incentives to more than 30 scientific research studies. “We believe that a company will not be prosperous if its surroundings are not benefited,” says Gilberto Tomazoni, JBS’ CEO.

But what do Brazilians expect from entrepreneurs in the pandemic? Six in ten Brazilians are in favor of private participation in the efforts against the health crisis, according to the most recent survey EXAME/IDEIA.

When asked about the best way for the private sector to help, 40% believe that companies should donate equipment to hospitals; 21% point out the donation of food and essential items to the poorest. “These numbers show us that, although Brazilians seem anesthetized before the pandemic, the scenes of crowded hospitals have sensitized public opinion and what it expects from the private sector in the current crisis,” says Maurício Moura, founder of IDEIA.

In recent weeks, the most visible face of the business community’s reaction to the Covid-19 has been the discussion of private vaccination. In early March, the federal government sanctioned legislation allowing companies to purchase Covid-19 vaccines, provided that all doses are donated to the National Health System (SUS) until the end of the vaccination of priority groups – which today includes some 77 million people, or 36% of the population.

Only then could the private sector acquire doses to vaccinate its employees. This is not ideal for two right-wing businessmen like Carlos Wizard, from Sforza food group, and Luciano Hang, from Havan retailer, who are leading a movement to change the logic.

The group wants legislation allowing business owners to vaccinate employees immediately and thus open the doors of their stores. “We have no turnover, but we still have expenses, such as rent and suppliers, and many have already gone bankrupt,” says Wizard. A relaxation of the current rule has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies but is stalled in the Senate.

The subject is controversial and has the possibility to distance the population from the business community. Private vaccination would open space for people with less risk of dying to be vaccinated before the priority groups by the Ministry of Health – in other words, cutting to the head of the line.

Facing the shortage of vaccines, most pharmaceutical companies have already warned that they only negotiate with governments to avoid competition within their own countries. Therefore, even if Congress allows private purchase, the question remains: from whom will the private sector buy the immunizers?

The question points to the risk of counterfeit doses, as occurred in the episode of the fake nurse in Belo Horizonte, in a clandestine vaccination against Covid-19 to relatives and friends of businessmen, last month. The perception of Brazilians is that vaccination should stay in the hands of the government.

Only 15% support the purchase of vaccines by the private sector, even if they are donated to SUS to immunize the general population, according to the survey EXAME/IDEIA. Another 23% consider valid the purchase of vaccines to immunize employees and their relatives.

It seems that the more active participation of companies in the communities where they operate will be increasingly demanded. In the far corners of Brazil, it is at the door of the big companies that the requests for all kinds of help will end up. It is even understandable: in places where the State is more absent, it is left to the private sector to meet the demands for a new health center or a new school – which obviously cannot meet everyone’s expectations.

“Brazilian companies feel more comfortable in this role of promoting occasional aid,” says management consultant Betania Tanure, president of the BTA consultancy. “Few are those that get involved in the formulation of public policies, a role I usually call ‘statesman companies’.”

Source: Exame

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