MISTAKEN MODELS
Before it was a BRIC, Brazil was mired in deep economic crisis. Its quick recovery surprised many, but it has made little progress on human development since then. A case in point is its failure to build an equitable and effective health-care system. Nearly 70 percent of the population is dependent on its universal health-care system, called SUS, but government funding for it has been minimal. The federal government has also neglected to help local governments manage SUS hospitals and has provided little cash for basic necessities, such as beds and x-ray machines, health-care workers, and medicine. As a result, in 2012, an estimated 40 percent of the population lacked access to essential medicine.