In 2025, the world will experience significant advances in science and public health. In Brazil, in December, the Ministry of Health announced the end of vertical transmission of the HIV virus, from mother to baby. In addition, this is the third consecutive year that the country has recorded a decline in the number of people living in situations of poverty and extreme poverty, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). Remember this and other good news of the year 2025.
Peace plan for Gaza
Presented in September by US President Donald Trump, the peace plan for Gaza came into force in October, after the Israeli government approved the agreement signed with Hamas. The first phase was marked by the release of Israeli hostages, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Israeli troops withdrew and thousands of Palestinians returned home. By the time the ceasefire began, the war in the Gaza Strip had already lasted two years and two days.
Reduction of poverty and extreme poverty
The population living in poverty and extreme poverty in the country decreased, in 2024, for the third consecutive year. The data was published by the IBGE in December. The poverty rate reached 23.1% in 2024, and the extreme poverty rate reached 3.5%. The IBGE associated the new reduction with two factors: the process of recovery of the labor market and the continued payment of social benefits such as Bolsa Família.
First concert hall in a favela in Brazil
In November, the Baccarelli Theater was inaugurated, the first concert hall located in a favela in Brazil. Built in Heliópolis, the second largest favela in São Paulo, the cultural establishment opened its doors with a concert by the Heliópolis Symphony Orchestra. In addition to classical music performances, ballet and film screenings, the theater will also host funk, rap and trap events.
The rate of disabled students in Brazilian universities has more than doubled in ten years. Data from the latest Higher Education Census, from the Department of Education, shows that in 2024 there were approximately 95,000 enrollments of students with disabilities, pervasive developmental disabilities or high abilities/gifts, or 0.9% of the total. In 2014, there were 33,000, which corresponded to 0.4% of the undergraduate universe. The main types of disability reported in 2024 were physical (29,126 registrations), low vision (21,748) and autism spectrum disorder (15,941). The same student can register more than one condition.
First inclusive sporting event in MS clubs
In October the first edition of Interclubes Inclusivo took place, an event that brings together the Pinheiros, Paulistano, Monte Virgínia, Sírio, Paineiras, Hebraica and São Paulo Futebol Clube clubs. The first, at the Esporte Clube Pinheiros, brought together around fifty children, young people and disabled adults who are members of these clubs.
Potential treatment for spinal cord injuries
Polylaminin, created from a protein in the placenta, was presented in September as a potential treatment to regenerate the marrow in people who have suffered rupture of the organ in accidents leading to paraplegia. The substance was developed over 25 years by a researcher from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). The research participants successfully recovered their movements.
Ozone layer under reconstruction
The ozone layer reached, in 2024, the greatest thickness recorded in decades of monitoring, according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), linked to the United Nations, published in September of this year. The data shows a gradual restoration of the structure that protects the planet from solar radiation. The hole was smaller than average from 1990 to 2020, with a deficit of 46.1 million tonnes of ozone in 2024.
Ending mother-to-baby transmission of HIV
Brazil has eliminated vertical transmission of HIV, from mother to baby, according to a Health Ministry announcement in December. In 2024, the transmission rate was less than 2% and the incidence of infection in children was less than 0.5 cases per thousand live births. The number of AIDS deaths in Brazil also fell by about 13 percent to 9,100 last year. For the first time in three decades, the country recorded fewer than 10,000 deaths.
The regeneration of the Atlantic forest is growing
In the Atlantic Forest, 4.9 million hectares of vegetation were regenerated from 1993 to 2022, according to a study published in October. The area, which takes into account forest, mangrove and restinga tree, is larger than the state of Rio de Janeiro. Of this total, about 3.8 million hectares (78%) remain standing, known as persistent recovery. On the other hand, 1.1 million hectares (22%) of the recovered areas were deforested again.
Talipot palm trees bloom for the first and only time in Rio
The very rare flowering of talipot palms (Corypha umbraculifera) has transformed parts of Rio
de Janeiro as part of a botanical exhibition in November. The specimens that grew for more than six decades in Aterro do Flamengo and Jardim Botânico began to open their inflorescences almost at the same time, a phenomenon that only happens once in the life of the plant. The species, native to southern India and Sri Lanka, only flowers at the end of the cycle, generally between 50 and 70 years of age. In Rio, talipots were planted by landscaper Roberto Burle Marx in the 1960s.
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