Chronic Diseases and Health Injustice: The Silent Advance of NCDs in Brazil's Peripheries

Chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) represent a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, disproportionately impacting populations living in socioeconomically disadvantaged territories. This article analyzes the silent advance of NCDs in the peripheries of Brazil through the lens of health injustice, arguing that the unequal distribution of social determinants – such as poverty, inadequate housing, limited access to healthy food, and precarious healthcare infrastructure – facilitates the endemic rise of conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory disorders. Utilizing a critical public health perspective, the essay situates chronic disease prevalence within broader structural inequalities that shape life trajectories and health opportunities in Brazil’s marginalized urban and rural peripheries. The analysis highlights how entrenched social disadvantage not only increases exposure to risk factors but also limits access to preventive services, early diagnosis, and effective long-term care. Policies that emphasize biomedical interventions without addressing upstream determinants are shown to reinforce inequities and fail to curb disease burden. The text underscores the need for intersectoral strategies that integrate health promotion, social protection, community engagement, and territorial equity. By confronting the structural roots of NCDs within the peripheries, public health can contribute to advancing justice and reducing avoidable suffering in Brazil’s most vulnerable populations.