Members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, backed by the national media, have narrowly averted a move by the ministry of education that could have been disastrous for researchers. The ministry had sought to limit the participation of scientists in national and international scientific meetings to just one or two per institution (see go.nature.com/2xtnxj and go.nature.com/2jemdy; both in Portuguese). In that event, Brazil’s voice at the 16th World Congress on Public Health 2020, for example, would have been no more than a whisper in discussions of global-health emergencies such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the ministry (see go.nature.com/3agpq9s; in Portuguese), the members pointed out that a mere handful of delegates cannot do justice to important research done by many Brazilian scientists. With respect to the world congress, the ministry’s ruling would have excluded at least 2,000 Brazilian academics who contributed to relevant topics such as the Zika virus (N. Faria et al. Nature 546, 406–410; 2017) and the health impact of environmental disasters (R. J. Ladle et al. Nature 578, 37; 2020).

Although scientists welcome the ministry’s revocation of its ruling, concerns remain about the government’s stance on Brazil’s science and education (see, for example, Nature 572, 575–576; 2019).