[...] her mother lay with her gray hair - what was left of it - sticking out on the pillow, and she was a tiny as a person could be and still be alive. It was as though her mother had been in a science fiction movie and that her body - her essence - had been snatched. When her mother's eyes flipped open, Suzanne had said, "It's me, Mom, Suzanne," and her mother had sat up and said, "Hello." And when Suzanne repeated to her, "Mom, it's me, your daughter," her mother said pleasantly, "No, my daughter is dead." Then her mother had sung a lullaby as she rocked Snuggles, and she was still doing that when Suzanne left.

Now, as Suzanne entered the room, she had to walk by another woman seated in a wheelchair not far from her mother; [...]

Her mother sat serenely in her wheelchair in the corner of her room, with Snuggles on her lap. Her hair had been combed, and she wore a sweatsuit of pale off-white, on her feet were clean white sneakers. "Hello," she said to Suzanne. "You're a pretty woman. Who are you?"

"I'm your daughter, Mom. It's me, Suzanne."

Her mother said politely, "I don't have a daughter. She died. But when she was a little girl, she had this." And her mother held up Snuggles. "His name is Snuggles," her mother said.

"Mom, you remember this was Snuggles?" Suzanne leaned down toward her mother.

"I don't know who you are," her mother continued, "but my poor little daughter. She was always such a good girl." [...]

"But her brother!" And her mother laughed then. "Oh, her brother was a nasty little boy." [...]

Chills ran down Suzanne's side [...] "Doyle?" she finally asked.

Her mother's face remained uncomprehending, until suddenly it became twisted in fury. "You get out of here right now! Get out! Get out!" Spittle flew from her mouth.

And then the other woman seated in her wheelchair began to cry. It was a terrible sound [...] Suzanne stood up [...] "Help me, please," she said to an aide going by. "I've upset my mother and also some woman who was in here [...]

The aide was a small young woman, with no expression on her face, and she said to Suzanne, "I'll be there in a minute."

"Please come in now," said Suzanne, but the aide was already going into the room next door. "Oh God," said Suzanne. She went back into her mother's room [...] and her mother was half standing out of her chair. She pointed her arm at Suzanne. "You! Get out of here right now!"

Elizabeth Strout – Olive, Again (2019)
Penguin Random House UK (2019)

- Que surpresa! Parece muito melhor.

- Não estou. Em coisas do coração não há curas. Há só fases do mesmo mal. 

Agustina Bessa-Luís – Fanny Owen (1979)

Colecção Mil Folhas / Bibliotex SL / M.E.D.I.A.S.A.T. e Promoway Portugal Ltda (2002)

"You're the one who made the decision to have the affair. I think you should be the one who takes responsability for it. Not your husband."

She shook her head. "We're not like that, Bernie. There have never been any secrets between us, and this would be too awful. I have to tell him."

"There are always secrets," Bernie said [...] After a moment Bernie said, "You know, it's not my business, but I wonder if you could see someone, a therapist. There has to be a good therapist in Boston. Just for now while you sort all these things out."

"Oh, Bernie," said Suzanne. She touched his arm briefly. "I've been to a therapist. That's who I had my stupid affair with."

Elizabeth Strout – Olive, Again (2019)
Penguin Random House UK (2019)

Outro dos engulhos no trabalho de Lurdes e João passava pela relação com as chefias e pelos fluxos de informação e de decisão. Chefias muitas vezes distantes, impotentes, sujeitas a remodelações constantes e à implementação sucessiva de novos modelos. «As direcções estão dispersas, às vezes muito afastadas dos centros de saúde. Criaram o ACES [Agrupamento de Centros de Saúde], e há necessidades muito diferentes que às vezes não são satisfeitas.» Por exemplo, segundo João, há exames que os médicos prescrevem e que só podem ser realizados se as chefias do ACES autorizarem. «Os médicos não têm autonomia, nem mesmo em situações de urgência. A verdade é que muitas vezes não estamos a resolver os problemas dos utentes. Uma pessoa vai com um problema grave ao centro de saúde, na zona rural, ou aqui, no Algueirão, e tem de esperar que a direção em Massamá decida.» Nos últimos tempos em que esteve ao serviço, uma das funções de João passava pelo acompanhamento dos pedidos de tratamento de fisioterapia e de terapia da fala, muito solicitados por pessoas que tivessem sofrido um AVC. Se se concluísse que o tratamento iria ter uma duração superior a 120 dias, «e em caso de AVC isso era muito comum», o pedido entrava em modo de espera, até vir aprovado pela direcção do referido ACES. «A gente punha-se no lugar daquelas pessoas e achava que elas tinham razão. Elas iam ter connosco e nós dizíamos "agora volte cá daqui a oito dias, para saber se tem direito". É claro que isso gerava revolta. E perturbava o atendimento.» Na ética de serviço de João e Lurdes, era inevitável trazer esses problemas para casa. «Imagine o que é uma pessoa a quem foi amputada uma perna, que anda a fazer trabalho de recuperação, e a quem é dito "agora tem de interromper até vir nova autorização". Os meus últimos anos de trabalho foram muito complicados por causa destas situações.» 

Pedro Vieira – Em que posso ser útil? (2021)

Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos e Pedro Vieira (2021)

Ela diz que não, que lhes é impossível saber o que se passou, que eles eram como nos crimes as testemunhas que se esqueceram de olhar. 

Marguerite Duras – Olhos Azuis, Cabelo Preto (1986)

Colecção Mil Folhas / Bibliotex SL / M.E.D.I.A.S.A.T. e Promoway Portugal Ltda (2002)

Pertencente a uma faixa etária muito mais baixa, Marcelo sentiu directamente os efeitos da pandemia no campo profissional, ficando com esse lado virado do avesso. Estando a trabalhar sem contrato na área de restauração, hotelaria e turismo, era de esperar que à calamidade de saúde pública se juntasse a calamidade laboral, carregada de dificuldades. «Perdi o meu emprego no restaurante, nunca mais tive clientes na minha experiência da Airbnb... fiquei sem rendimentos e fui forçado a fazer uns extras na construção civil.» Um mundo novo e desconhecido, no qual entrou por necessidade [...] Passados estes meses, Marcelo dá voz a uma frustração que vai um pouco mais além das contrariedades ao nível do trabalho e do ganhar a vida de todos os dias. «O que me magoa mais neste processo é o agravar da desigualdade social que já existia antes desta covid-19.» Sem grandes perspectivas no futuro imediato, de uma coisa Marcelo está convicto: «A incerteza e o medo são os piores vírus da nossa sociedade.»

Pedro Vieira – Em que posso ser útil? (2021)

Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos e Pedro Vieira (2021)

Ninguém me estendeu a mão mas o silêncio é cordial.

António Ramos Rosa in MORADIA - Obra Poética I

Assírio & Alvim (2018)

Pode ainda observar-se que a misteriosa doença do príncipe que se cura mal se inicia o regime de comensalidade com a princesa configura a melancolia de quem, enredado numa situação de confinamento familiar, espera a libertação matrimonial. Esta deve provir de uma noiva externa e não daquela que, criada em casa, representa a própria rainha-mãe (que a escolheu). Em suma, o príncipe doente espera a noiva que o liberte do domínio de uma mãe possessiva. 

Francisco Vaz da Silva – Gata Borralheira e Contos Similares (2011)
Círculo de Leitores e Temas e Debates (2011)

Guardian article: The 30-year quest for a malaria vaccine

Dr Joe Cohen recalls his experiences of being part of the team that has worked for almost three decades to develop what could be the world’s first vaccine against malaria

[...]

No vaccine exists against malaria. Finding a vaccine is challenging because the plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the deadliest form of malaria in humans, is capable of adapting to the human host and escaping its immune responses. But 30 years after research began, the team I worked with is closer than ever to developing a vaccine that could help protect young children in Africa from malaria. Now I am retired, I feel fortunate to have been associated with this work.

[...]

During one of these studies, the reality of the human burden of malaria became even more obvious. In the late 1990s, I visited The Gambia as we were preparing to test RTS,S in people in Africa for the first time. In the children’s ward of the local hospital, the 20 or so beds were each often occupied by two or three tiny children – most of them seriously ill with malaria. Their mothers sat beside them, clearly despondent and almost resigned: many told us they had already lost a child to this dreadful disease. The visit starkly illustrated what malaria meant for the local population and gave even more meaning and urgency to our work.

The Gambia study, conducted in 1999, demonstrated that the vaccine was effective in African adult volunteers and in 2004 our collaborators in Mozambique demonstrated the efficacy of the vaccine candidate in African children. These and other studies paved the way for the start of our final-stage study, Phase 3, in 2009 – a crucial step towards the registration of the vaccine candidate. To get this far would have been a dream only 10 or 15 years ago. We couldn’t grasp that it would actually happen. That was a tremendously big moment for all of us.

https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/responsibility/improving-health-globally/using-our-science-for-global-health/guardian-article-the-30-year-quest-for-a-malaria-vaccine/