In 1988, Brazilian Constitution definedhealth as a universal right and state responsibility. Progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) has been achieved through a Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) which was created in 1990. With successes and setbacks in the implementation of health programmes and organization of its health system, Brazil has achieved nearly-universal access to health services for her citizens. The trajectory of the development and expansion of the SUS offers valuable lessons on how to scale UHC in a health system in a highly-unequal country and relatively low resources. The analysis of the 30 years since the inception of SUS shows that innovations in the Brazilian health system extend beyond the development of new models of care and highlights the importance of establishing political, legal, organizational and management-related structures, and the role of the federal and local governments in the governance, planning, financing, and provision of health services. The expansion of SUS has allowed Brazil to rapidly address the changing health needs, with dramatic scaling up health service coverage in just three decades. However, despite its successes, analysis of future scenarios suggests the urgent need to address lingering geographic inequalities, insufficient funding, and the suboptimal private-public collaboration. Recent fiscal policies that ushered austerity measures, environmental, educational and health policies of the new administraion introduced in Brazil could reverse the hard-earned achievements of the SUS and threaten its sustainability and its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate of providing 'health for all'. 2000 2010 2015 Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) 87•6 98•6 98•9 99•1 Immunization, BCG (% of one-year-old children) 79 99 99 99 Immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) 78 99 99 96 Immunization, DPT (% of children ages 12-23 months) 66 98 99 96 Immunization, Hib3 (% of children ages 12-23 months) 90 99 96 Immunization, Pol3 (% of one-year-old children) 58 99 99 98 Immunization, HepB3 (% of one-year-old children) 94 96 96 Antiretroviral therapy coverage (% people living with HIV) 27 38 57

The Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS)) has enabled substantial progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Brazil. However, structural weakness, economic and political crises and austerity policies that have capped public expenditure growth are threatening its sustainability and outcomes. This paper analyses the Brazilian health system progress since 2000 and the current and potential effects of the coalescing economic and political crises and the subsequent austerity policies. We use literature review, policy analysis and secondary data from governmental sources in 2000–2017 to examine changes in political and economic context, health financing, health resources and healthcare service coverage in SUS. We find that, despite a favourable context, which enabled expansion of UHC from 2003 to 2014, structural problems persist in SUS, including gaps in organisation and governance, low public funding and suboptimal resource allocation. Consequently, large regional disparities exist in access to healthcare services and health outcomes, with poorer regions and lower socioeconomic population groups disadvantaged the most. These structural problems and disparities will likely worsen with the austerity measures introduced by the current government, and risk reversing the achievements of SUS in improving population health outcomes. The speed at which adverse effects of the current and political crises are manifested in the Brazilian health system underscores the importance of enhancing health system resilience to counteract external shocks (such as economic and political crises) and internal shocks (such as sector-specific austerity policies and rapid ageing leading to rise in disease burden) to protect hard-achieved progress towards UHC.

Background COVID-19 spread rapidly in Brazil despite the country's well established health and social protection systems. Understanding the relationships between health-system preparedness, responses to COVID-19, and the pattern of spread of the epidemic is particularly important in a country marked by wide inequalities in socioeconomic characteristics (eg, housing and employment status) and other health risks (age structure and burden of chronic disease). Methods From several publicly available sources in Brazil, we obtained data on health risk factors for severe COVID-19 (proportion of the population with chronic disease and proportion aged ≥60 years), socioeconomic vulnerability (proportions of the population with housing vulnerability or without formal work), health-system capacity (numbers of intensive care unit beds and physicians), coverage of health and social assistance, deaths from COVID-19, and state-level responses of government in terms of physical distancing policies. We also obtained data on the proportion of the population staying at home, based on locational data, as a measure of physical distancing adherence. We developed a socioeconomic vulnerability index (SVI) based on household characteristics and the Human Development Index. Data were analysed at the state and municipal levels. Descriptive statistics and correlations between state-level indicators were used to characterise the relationship between the availability of health-care resources and socioeconomic characteristics and the spread of the epidemic and the response of governments and populations in terms of new investments, legislation, and physical distancing. We used linear regressions on a municipality-by-month dataset from February to October, 2020, to characterise the dynamics of COVID-19 deaths and response to the epidemic across municipalities. Findings The initial spread of COVID-19 was mostly affected by patterns of socioeconomic vulnerability as measured by the SVI rather than population age structure and prevalence of health risk factors. The states with a high (greater than median) SVI were able to expand hospital capacity, to enact stringent COVID-19-related legislation, and to increase physical distancing adherence in the population, although not sufficiently to prevent higher COVID-19 mortality during the initial phase of the epidemic compared with states with a low SVI. Death rates accelerated until June, 2020, particularly in municipalities with the highest socioeconomic vulnerability. Throughout the following months, however, differences in policy response converged in municipalities with lower and higher SVIs, while physical distancing remained relatively higher and death rates became relatively lower in the municipalities with the highest SVIs compared with those with lower SVIs. Interpretation In Brazil, existing socioeconomic inequalities, rather than age, health status, and other risk factors for COVID-19, have...

Resumo Em 2019, o governo brasileiro lançou uma nova política para a Atenção Primária à Saúde (APS) no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Chamada de “Previne Brasil”, a política modificou o financiamento da APS para municípios. No lugar de habitantes e de equipes de Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF), as transferências intergovernamentais passaram a ser calculadas a partir do número de pessoas cadastradas em serviços de APS e de resultados alcançados sobre um grupo selecionado de indicadores. As mudanças terão um conjunto de impactos para o SUS e para a saúde da população que precisaram ser identificados e monitorados. Neste artigo, discute-se os possíveis efeitos da nova política a partir de uma breve análise de contexto sobre tendências globais de financiamento de sistemas de saúde e de remuneração por serviços de saúde, bem como dos avanços, desafios e ameaças à APS e ao SUS. Com base na análise realizada, entende-se que a nova política parece ter objetivo restritivo, que deve limitar a universalidade, aumentar as distorções no financiamento e induzir a focalização de ações da APS no SUS, contribuindo para a reversão de conquistas históricas na redução das desigualdades na saúde no Brasil.

Objetivo. Elaborar recomendações estratégicas para fortalecer a atenção primária à saúde (APS) no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) no Brasil a partir da consulta a especialistas. Método. Este estudo qualitativo, desenvolvido de março a agosto de 2018, foi composto pela aplicação de questionário aberto e construção de consenso entre 20 participantes representativos das cinco macrorregiões brasileiras, selecionados a partir do critério de reconhecida experiência profissional na APS. Os participantes responderam 20 perguntas abertas em questionário on-line elaborado pelos pesquisadores. Os achados foram sistematizados na forma de recomendações, submetidas a avaliação de prioridade pelo grupo de especialistas utilizando a metodologia Delphi em rodada única. As recomendações finais foram discutidas em oficina presencial. Resultados. Dos 20 especialistas, 18 responderam ao questionário aberto, gerando 84 temas, sistematizados em 44 propostas. Após avaliação, foram elaboradas 20 recomendações, que enfatizaram a expansão da Estratégia Saúde da Família; a ampliação do acesso à APS; a formação de profissionais para atuação multidisciplinar na APS; a alocação de tecnologias para garantir resolutividade na APS; o aprimoramento da regulação/coordenação de serviços para fortalecer a APS como elemento estruturante do SUS; estrutura e financiamento; recursos humanos, provimento de profissionais, apoio e estímulo às equipes; produção e divulgação de conhecimento; transparência nas ações da APS; e o papel mediador da APS no sistema de saúde. Conclusões. Os achados reforçam a ESF como melhor modelo para garantir uma APS forte no SUS, aliada a políticas que priorizem os atributos essenciais da APS, sobretudo pela inovação em tecnologias assistenciais, de gestão e de comunicação.

Objective: To analyze the influence of socioeconomic, demographic, epidemiological factors, and the health system structure in the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Methods: Ecological study with variables extracted from databases, having the incidence and mortality by COVID-19 until August 23, 2020, in Brazilian states, as response variables. The magnitude of the associations was estimated using Spearman's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results: In the Brazilian states, 59.8% of variation in the incidence of COVID-19 was justified by income inequality, significant home densification, and higher mortality. In the case of mortality, those same variables explained 57.9% of the country's variations in federal units. Conclusion: Our results indicate that socioeconomic factors influenced the evolution and impact of COVID-19 in Brazil. Thus, we suggest comprehensive actions to ensure economic conditions and strengthening of health networks for populations with socioeconomic vulnerability.

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Resumo Neste artigo, discutimos a resiliência do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) diante da pandemia da COVID-19. Para análise, utilizamos as categorias analíticas propostas pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) para análise de sistemas de saúde: (i) liderança e governança, (ii) financiamento, (iii) produtos estratégicos para saúde, (iv) força de trabalho, (v) informação em saúde e (vi) prestação de serviços. Para explorar a prestação de serviços e adaptá-la ao contexto brasileiro, subdividimos o bloco correspondente em 5 sub-blocos: (i) ações de saúde pública e vigilância, (ii) atenção primária em saúde; (iii) atenção especializada e hospitalar, (iv) urgência e emergência, e (v) saúde digital. Procedemos a uma consulta não sistemática à literatura científica e a documentos oficiais publicados por órgãos governamentais brasileiros e internacionais de saúde, visando obter dados relacionadas à organização de sistemas de saúde frente a emergências em saúde pública.