On the heels of the news that the Brazilian Attorney General has launched an investigation into an alleged bribing scheme among lawmakers and construction companies related to the 2016 Olympic Games, Games host Rio de Janeiro has just declared a health sector state of emergency.
The declaration, signed this week by Rio governor Luiz Fernando Pezão and Secretary of Health Care, Alberto Beltrame, is in response to the state having run out of funds to maintain the overall operation of its public health system. The governmental response comes as hospitals, emergency rooms and health clinics cut services or closed units throughout the state as money ran out for equipment, supplies and salaries.
According to the Business Insider, Rio de Janeiro estimates that in health alone it owes 1.4 billion reais ($355 million) to employees and suppliers and needs about 350 million reais immediately to reopen closed hospital units and clinics.
The ‘state of emergency’ measure is aimed at providing additional support to hospitals across the state, with Rio now set to receive R$297 million (£51 million/$75 million/€69 million) according to Pezão, which will include funding from the Federal Government. Additional funds will come in the form of a Rio City Government loan of approximately R$100 million (£17 million/$25 million/€23 million).
“We are channeling every effort to keep the units running, we have created a crisis cabinet and decreed emergency in Rio de Janeiro,” Pezão told The Rio Times. “This partnership with the Federal Government and the City Hall is essential. “The state has no money machine. “We depend on these transfers, especially given the severity of the financial crisis in the country, which has serious consequences for our state.”
“We are living through a very difficult situation in the state, perhaps the most difficult of any of the Brazilian states,” Pezão told reporters, “but we are counting on the federal government, President Dilma Rousseff and everyone else to pull the state out of this situation as quickly as possible.”
This situation is just one of many looming over the 2016 Olympic Games, as we have comprehensively covered past issues, some of which are still plaguing the host city. Below is a quick hit list of past SwimSwam pieces covering the bumpy journey to Rio:
round of Caipirinhas for everyone!!!!
Selecting Rio to host the 2016 Olympics was a terrible choice from the get go. It would not surprise me one bit if the 2016 games turns out to be a gigantic fiasco.
You are so misinformed!
First of all it is Rio de Janeiro state not the city that declared this so called state of emergency.
Second of all, the name of the Health Secretary is wrong. You put the name of the Security Secretary, this shows your lack of knowledge of the real situation.
The city situation is completely different.
Keep rooting for the worst. It will kick you in your rear ends.
Hi Weirdgirlie – I don’t believe the article says anywhere that the city of Rio has declared a state of emergency as compared to the state. Also, Alberto Beltrame has been the Secretary of Health since late October. Hope this helps clear things up for you, but let us know if you have any other questions.
Weirdgirlie,
you are confusing Alberto Beltrame(Health Secretary) with Jose Mariano Beltrame(Security Secretary).
For all readers interested:
The City of Rio De Janeiro has funds(Mayor is Eduardo Paes).The State, not(Governor is Luiz Fernando Pezão).
The IOC will need to come to some conclusion very quickly if they decide to move the Games to another country. I am pretty sure the USA could host the Games if it came to it… we have the resources and logistics. Besides LA, other previous hosting cities might be able to pull it off as well – Atlanta comes to mind.
Sorry, but as I’ve commented earlier, its now far too late to shift the entire games to a new city. I’ve been an official at the last 5 Olympics and spectator at 2 others and realistically a switch to another country/city isn’t practicable
Its not just a matter of venues. What about:
– the level of co-ordination between the various levels of government (local/state-regional/national) with regards to policing, customs etc
– organising and training the vast number of volunteers you will need at such short notice
– the transport planning involved which means major changes to existing scheduling to free up the “rolling stock’ to move “finals day crowds” every day for 16 days.
There are realistically… Read more »
Hey look on the bright side…they opened a new swimming pool last week!!
But seriously watch the financial news in the next few weeks and see what happens to the Brazilian investment ratings. If they lose the ability to borrow then they are in huge trouble. Medical spending is critical and should never have an issue like this. They would keep funding their hospitals before they fund the Olympic games I think. The easiest area to cut spending is security and I dont think thats acceptable to the US and European countries,
One more comment..this link is LA times interview with RIO mayor…this guy’s attitude is unbelievable IMO. If I was on IOC and read this I would insta move… Read more »
There were a lot of thoughtful and informed comments a few weeks back in response to my prior posts begging to move the Olympics back to London or to LA. What are the other speed dial cities? Sydney? Barcelona? Frankly it may seem goofy, but New York? NYC and the metropolis around it has facilities. For ones like swimming, there is capital in that area to speed rush a temporary pool with seating. Give Michael Bloomberg a VIP organizer status and get out of his way. If he’d do it, and maybe he would. He’s not in political office now. Didn’t Peter Ueberroth basically save the Olympics when LA threw him the keys and got out of the way in… Read more »
totally agree here . They dont have the funds and can`t finish it in time . Its not safe foe the athletes .
Sadly, the timeframe is too short to effect a “switch”. The realistic cut-off point would have been early 2014 for London to be able to “back up”. Sydney or Beijing …… maybe a little earlier and with Sydney, it would need to be with the IOC stumping up the for the bills !!
LA or NYC …… completely impracticable given the timeframe left and what would be required given the organisation that is required and the levels of inter-agency co-operation and different levels of government required. Sorry Joel, but it WOULD require co-operation with federal authorities and state level AND local authorities beyond the 5 boroughs/LA county
Essentially there are only three options available.
1. Go ahead with Rio.… Read more »
I’d imagine #2 would be something in particular that the powers-that-be are looking into… possibly an all-over-the-USA or all-over-Europe Olympics would be a possibility.
Another possible contender for alternate host could be Glasgow? They had a successful Commonwealth Games last year, and as far as I recall, it went without a hitch. I’m sure the British and Scottish government wouldn’t be too against having another huge flow of people and tourists coming in for a couple of weeks. Plus, in regards to sports like football, rugby, etc., stadiums all around the country would bring in more tourism around the country. I wouldn’t doubt that this prospect has been considered by the IOC and HM Government.
One thing is for certain – whatever is going to be done at whatever level, needs to happen very soon. Already there are many logistical and security problems that a new venue would need to handle on a very tight budget and extremely short time frame.
Just hope that whatever happens in terms of an alternate venue starts happening really really soon.