Alagoas health in chaos

The state of Alagoas, in Northeastern Brazil, has decreed a State of Emergency in its public health system, after a strike by doctors entered its third month. The local authorities are now authorized to hire nearly 250 people to replace some members of the health staff on strike that resigned en masse. The decision takes place after the population started feeling the effect of the long strike. An 18-month-old child died after receiving no treatment, and the main emergency room in the state has started registering several deaths caused by infection due to overcrowding.