Economic Crisis, Fiscal Austerity and Deaths of Despair in Brazil Health, disease, and mortality processes are occurring in Latin America as a result of many political, cultural, social, economic, demographic, structural, and institutional environment transformations over the past 60 years. In fact, despite rapid growth in life expectancy from 1930 onwards, infant mortality rates in Latin America began to fall steadily only from the 1940s, and accelerated in the 1970s. Historically, the national and global economy oscillates in cycles of growth and recession with varying duration between them.
