A rights-based approach to public health emergencies: The case of the 'More Rights, Less Zika' campaign in Brazil

During health emergencies, the security agenda tends to impose itself over the human rights agenda. That happened when Brazil became the Zika-related PHEIC epicentre in 2016. While the federal government promoted a 'war against the mosquito' Aedes aegypti, some social actors emphasised the social determinants of health and women's rights. This article presents the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) led campaign 'More Rights, Less Zika' as a consistent example of the positive effects the coordination between global and local actors might have on health initiatives. We conducted field research in Recife, Northeast of Brazil, one of the campaign's target cities, where we interviewed main local actors. The campaign focussed on disseminating women's sexual and reproductive rights as an alternative to the strategy of the federal government, primarily focussed on controlling the vector, postponing pregnancies, and the use of repellent. Despite its scale limitations, the campaign demonstrates that a right-based approach can contribute to increasing the security of communities during health emergencies. The case also suggests that coordinating global actors' actions with local actors improves the quality of global health initiatives, which is particularly important when a conservative agenda opposing women's rights gains leverage in Brazil and other States.