Cancer Care Challenges for the LGBT Population in Brazil

Abstract

Some improvements for the LGBT community have taken place in Brazil, such as the strengthening of progressive social movements and even the National Policy of Integral Healthcare for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transsexuals, and Travestis (Travesti: Transfeminine person who identifies with a travesti gender identity, that has been marginalized throughout history. It is a predominantly Brazilian identity construction but is also found in other Latin American and European countries. As there is no consensus on the best translation of the term and its translation could sound pejorative, the authors of this chapter chose to keep its nomenclature in Portuguese. Travesti is not a pejorative term, and they want to be recognized as such by societys), in 2011. From there, it has been possible to consider public policies for caring for non-transmissible chronic diseases, such as cancer, and in barriers and inequalities in the access to the public healthcare system in the country. However, national healthcare has suffered ongoing budgetary cuts, stimulated by neoliberal policies, such as the constitutional amendment in 2016 that “froze” public investments for 20 years. Furthermore, our country has been the subject of worldwide scrutiny in view of escalating far-right conservative bids since the election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018. The LGBT population already suffers with a lack of national data justifying the implementation of inclusive public policies, but in this context, it fears and dares to resist for the rights already fought for in the past. Thus, this chapter concerns the specificities of the Brazilian healthcare system and how the particulars that LGBT people face may interfere in the risk and follow-up of neoplasms.