Celso Amorim receives Doctor Honoris Causa from Fiocruz

On Friday (8/30), Fiocruz awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa to ambassador Celso Amorim, head of the Special Adviser to the President of the Republic. The eighth person to receive the honor from the Foundation, Amorim was recognized for his work in health diplomacy. The ceremony took place in the Virginia Schall Science Tent at Fiocruz headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro, and was broadcast on the institution's YouTube channel.

The president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira (center), presents the Doctor Honoris Causa diploma to ambassador Celso Amorim; observed by Paulo Buss (photo: Peter Ilicciev)

The initiative for the tribute came from the director of the Collaborating Center for Global Health Diplomacy and South-South Cooperation (PAHO/WHO), Paulo Buss, and was approved by the Foundation's Board of Directors last year. A graduate of the Rio Branco Institute in 1965, Amorim headed Brazil's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York between 1995 and 1999, and chaired the UN Security Council for the 1998-1999 term. He was Foreign Minister twice: from 1993 to 1994, during the Itamar Franco government; and from 2003 to 2010, during the Lula government, making him the longest-serving Foreign Minister in the country's history. Between 2011 and 2014, during Dilma Rousseff's administration, he was in charge of the Ministry of Defense.

At Itamaraty, Amorim worked for greater integration between Latin American countries, being involved in the creation of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) in 2008 and working to strengthen Mercosur. The ambassador was also present at the founding of Unitaid, an international organization created in 2006 by Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom, whose aim was to promote projects to increase access to cheaper medicines in low and middle-income countries, especially for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The importance of diplomacy in promoting health and reducing inequalities was emphasized in several speeches by the director of the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI), Valdiléa Veloso, who represented Fiocruz's Decision-making Body; by Paulo Buss, and by the Foundation's president, Mario Moreira, who led the tribute. Amorim was the last to speak. He emphasized the understanding of health as a human right, which must be guaranteed to all people.

"Cooperation between States cannot be viewed naively, as if States always acted altruistically. Nor, on the other hand, with a view that wants to be ultra-realistic, as if all State action were aimed solely at national power objectives," said Amorim. "I have had the privilege of witnessing, at different times, the leading role of Brazilian diplomacy in defending the human right to health. We will continue to work in Brazil and across the global south so that health is a guaranteed right for all, without distinction, so we can leave a legacy of justice, equity and well-being for future generations."

At the ceremony, the ambassador recalled various moments in his professional career, including his role in the negotiations that resulted in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international public health treaty signed by Brazil in 2003. "The negotiation was extremely complex, because it did not just involve ideas or visions or scientific issues, but also the problem of growing and selling tobacco. Despite enormous pressure from large tobacco industry corporations around the world, the tobacco convention is today one of the treaties with the highest number of signatories in the history of the UN, with 183 ratifications," he celebrated.

Amorim also called for more investment in the development of health technologies and studies into artificial intelligence (AI). "As we move towards a future progressively shaped by innovation, AI presents itself as one of the most transformative and revolutionary tools of our time. This can be for better or for worse. We have to work hard to develop our capacity, which applies to the most varied sectors of human life, including health, and at the same time work for its regulation," he said. "For Brazil, investing in high technology, especially in the area of health, means an opportunity to position itself strategically in the fight to reduce inequalities within and between countries."

Work with Fiocruz

The president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, opened the ceremony with a speech thanking Amorim, who has acted as an informal advisor to the Fiocruz Global Health Center (Cris/Fiocruz) in recent years. "You have always inspired our health diplomacy activities and our understanding of Brazilian foreign policy. Fiocruz understands its international role in global health, solidarity and cooperation between peoples. We are truly committed to a fairer world, and for us health is a determining factor in this global balance,” said Mario.

The Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade Lima, took part in the event remotely, via a recorded video shown during the ceremony. "I thank Celso Amorim for all his contributions to all of us who seek to see health as a vector for sustainable development and equity. It is a trajectory rich in institutional construction, in teachings and positions that make our country stronger and that put health in a prominent place," she said.

The director of the Evandro Chagas National Institute of Infectious Diseases (INI), Valdilea Veloso, who represented the Decision-making Body at the ceremony, gave a brief history of Amorim's career, from his brief role in cinema during the 1960s, when he took part in editing films such as Leon Hirszman's "Os Cafajestes" [The Unscrupulous Ones]. At the end of the 1970s, the ambassador presided over the Brazilian Film Company (Empresa Brasileira de Filmes – Embrafilme), but was fired by the military dictatorship for providing funding for the film "Pra frente, Brasil" [Go Ahead, Brazil], by Roberto Farias, a victim of the regime's censorship. 

Valdilea also highlighted Amorim's involvement in building the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in 2001. "This declaration recognizes the right of less developed countries to violate pharmaceutical patents to produce medicines that serve public health. Brazil contributed to building an agreement on legal changes that would allow the poorest countries to import generic and cheap versions of these drugs, produced through compulsory licensing,” he explained. "Foreign policy is a public policy that relates to other policies, such as culture, science, technology, human rights, education and health. During the period when ambassador Celso Amorim was chancellor, diplomacy was more open to civil society, academia and other public policies."

Pacifist

Cris' director Paulo Buss emphasized Amorim's efforts to build a culture of world peace during his time as head of the UN Security Council and, later, of Itamaraty. “Today we have a fractured, fragmented world, where what counts is the power of the weapon, not negotiation,” he said. "This power of negotiation marked Celso Amorim's career as our great pacifist ambassador. He was one of the main articulators of the international regime of disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons; he twice chaired the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva; he led Security Council panels on humanitarian aid, prisoners of war in Iraq, among other issues".

Buss also emphasized Amorim's role in defending the civil service. "Celso has been a civil servant for over 60 years. This is rare among talents like him, who tend to move to the private sector. He provides us with the example of having always been a militant of the Brazilian civil service," he said. "Celso Amorim's unquestionable technical, political and humanistic quality enriches Fiocruz with one of the most distinguished Brazilians who, by accepting this title of Doctor Honoris Causa, becomes an honorary member of our institution's staff."

Present at the award ceremony were the dean of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Roberto Medronho; the dean of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), Gulnar Azevedo; the president of the National Academy of Medicine, Eliete Bouskela; the president of the Brazilian Center for Health Studies (Cebes), Carlos Fidelis Ponte; the vice president of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), Reinaldo Guimarães; Fiocruz's professor emeritus Renato Cordeiro, representing the Brazilian Academy of Sciences; the minister counselor of the Brazilian Embassy in Panama, Marise Nogueira; the head of the Ministry of Health's Social Participation and Diversity Office, Lúcia Souto; federal deputy Jandira Fhegali; journalist Hildegard Angel; and the president of the Fiocruz's Workers' Union (Asfoc-SN), Paulo Garrido. The event was also attended by former Fiocruz presidents Paulo Gadelha, current coordinator of the Fiocruz Strategy for the 2030 Agenda; Akira Homma, current senior scientific advisor to the Immunobiological Technology Institute (Bio-Manguinhos); and Carlos Morel, current general coordinator of Fiocruz's Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS).

Titles

The title of Doctor Honoris Causa of Fiocruz is the highest honor awarded by the institution to national or international personalities with outstanding contributions to the progress of humanity or the country, or who have rendered relevant services to Fiocruz. The first person to receive the title was President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2004. The honor was also awarded to the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, and to doctors Ciro de Quadros, Giovanni Berlinguer, Hésio Cordeiro, María Isabel Rodriguez and Paulo Ferrinho.