SAS Brasil was created in 2013 and has today the OSCIP title (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest). We’ve already traveled tens of thousands of kilometers on the roads of the interior of Brazil, taking specialized care to needy locations in dozens of cities in 14 Brazilian States. With telemedicine, we’re going even further: 168 cities in 18 States³, with tens of thousands of people also benefited.

Reference in medical care with joy

SAS Brasil exists because we believe that the access to specialized health care must be truly universal in Brazil. In many of the places we visit, there are no specialist doctors whatsoever. Mothers to several children have never ever been to a gynecological consultation. Children with poor educational performance have never been to an ophthalmologist to check their vision, which ends up generating high dropout rates in the country. Skin cancer is a sad reality among people exposed to the sun in rural work. Brazil’s the country with the highest concentration of dentists and yet has a very high number of toothless people, who are excluded from the labor market and marginalized.

SAS Brasil is the fulfillment of the dream of a group of friends who like to travel by car across the country and who wanted to give back to the most needy part of the Brazilian society the investment made in their cutting-edge education in public universities of international recognition. They wanted to add a social element to their road trips. What started in 2013 with eight volunteers, today brings together hundreds of highly engaged professionals from different areas. We want to be a reference in medical care with joy, while valuing people and transforming social awareness.

We like to say that just as health is the body’s joy, joy is the soul’s health. We translate this catchphrase by including a series of playful elements into medical consultations, exams and treatments. Our intention is simple: we want health care to be associated with a fun experience, with the memory of a nice day, for both parents and children. We want to teach that taking care of health can be as nice as it is important.

Simple and efficient

Our way of doing this is simple. With mobile units mounted on maritime containers or on trailers, adapted with complete medical offices and with state-of-the-art equipment, we take to the cities all the necessary structure to perform consultations, exams and resolutive treatments in the health areas in which we operate: gynecology, dermatology, ophthalmology, dentistry and mental health. With telemedicine, we’re expanding the range of options, with 16 medical specialties and assistance in six health areas.

The work of SAS Brasil respects and values rules of medical ethics, such as the obligation to offer care without prejudice to any specific individual or group and guaranteeing the patients’ right to privacy and confidentiality, no matter where they are or what their history is. Our values are at the core of our work: ethics, transparency, security, empathy, experience, autonomy, problem solving, technology, itinerancy, off road.

We go to cities with a low Human Development Index (HDI) and a population of less than 30 thousand inhabitants in order to zero the demand for glasses among children, cure cancerous skin, breast and cervical lesions – the latter, the 4th disease that most kills women in Brazil. In partnership with the municipalities, we bring to populations healthcare together with actions of entertainment, culture, sports, education and sustainability, in a comprehensive care for human beings and the environment.

SAS Brasil and the Sertões International Rally

SAS Brasil was born in the 2013 edition of Rally dos Sertões, the largest off road competition in the Americas, second in the world and the main event of the kind in Brazil. Since then, we’re the event’s official social action provider. We take medical care and a series of actions to the needy populations on the competition path. Sertões has existed since 1992 and today is much more than a race, it is a showcase for one of the most beautiful, although most invisible, regions of Brazil.

⇨ Read on our blog highlights about Sertões

Starting in 2019, when it was renamed “Sertões”, we became one of the event’s three dimensions: competition, tourism and social. Annually, over 10 days on the road, we travel thousands of kilometers, sleep in camps or in daycare centers and wake up early in the morning to distribute health and happiness to the populations. Our work is strongly linked to the Sertões because in that region we find the greatest needs in the health area.

(3) Data as of November 2020, for weekly updated numbers, check out our special telemedicine page.

Find out more: Who does SAS Brasil | What we do and where we are | Our story