Abstract

Advances in reducing poverty and inequalities in the 2000s had a paradoxical effect in

Regionalização e acesso à saúde nos estados brasileiros: condicionantes históricos e político-institucionaisRegionalization and access to healthcare in Brazilian states: historical and political-institutional conditioning factors

Abstract

The aim of this article was to reflect on the challenges faced in building the Health Regions and Networks in Brazil. These reflections result from studies conducted in several health regions. The central challenges for the constitution of the Health Regions and Networks are as follows: the Care Model, Primary Health Care, Care for Users with Chronic Diseases, and Hospital Care. In order to consolidate the regions and networks the organization needs to incorporate an ethical sense: focusing on social, public and individual needs, derived from comprehensive care, human and social rights, in broad, multi-scale and inter-sectorial interactions, with the constitution of a systemic, regionalized innovation. Of prime importance is the capacity to devise which general principles are responsible for maintaining the unity(mode of care), seeking to outline the coherence of the different provision models that the system might develop according to the social needs in regional settings. Without that, users will continue to seek and create ways of accessing health services that challenge the rationale of those very services. Hospital reform is also required to integrate and reorient the hospital networks. These reflections are important for the SUS to uphold its solidarity project, expressed in the trinity of universality-comprehensiveness-equality.

The socioeconomic development, supply and complexity of health actions and services in a regional context may be considered structural constraints to the success of the current process of health care regionalization in Brazil. The main objective of this study is to identify the structural determinants of the regionalization process by building a typology of health regions in Brazil. A typology of Brazilian health regions was developed from available secondary data sources. The dimensions and groups that form the typology were identified through factor analysis and cluster analysis. The type of service provider both for out and inpatients was also identified. Results: the regions were classified into five independent groups according to their socioeconomic profile and characteristics of the health service supply. The characterization of Brazilian health regions through the typology demonstrates high levels of heterogeneity throughout Brazil, and the complex organization of the regional health systems. The proposed typology could contribute to future research and better understanding of this complex and contradictory scenario, supporting the urgently required development of integrated regional public policies that simultaneously involve economic and social development and the strengthening of regional spaces of governance in order to promote the organization of regional health systems grounded on the principles of the SUS (Brazilian National Health System), under a shared, joint management with the objective of ensuring the universal right to health.

O texto examina as etapas de formulação e implementação do Programa de Saúde da Família, indicando as estratégias esboçadas e analisando os resultados, com vistas a extrair lições para o aperfeiçoamento da política de saúde no Brasil. Foram identificados três modelos de implantação do programa: Modelo Regional, Modelo Singular e Modelo Principiante. O primeiro se caracteriza pelo desenvolvimento regional do programa, sendo fortemente influenciado por uma política estadual de apoio à mudança nas práticas assistenciais; o segundo desenvolve uma experiência singular, sem envolvimento de outras esferas de governo; e o terceiro se desenvolve de forma incipiente e incerta.

O texto examina as etapas de formulação e implementação do Programa de Saúde da Família, indicando as estratégias esboçadas e analisando os resultados, com vistas a extrair lições para o aperfeiçoamento da política de saúde no Brasil. Foram identificados três modelos de implantação do programa: Modelo Regional, Modelo Singular e Modelo Principiante. O primeiro se caracteriza pelo desenvolvimento regional do programa, sendo fortemente influenciado por uma política estadual de apoio à mudança nas práticas assistenciais; o segundo desenvolve uma experiência singular, sem envolvimento de outras esferas de governo; e o terceiro se desenvolve de forma incipiente e incerta.