Carta dos Editores

Abstract

These lines are written in a climate of great uncertainty, concurrent with efforts to oust Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, who was democratically elected in 2014. The prospects emerging on the near horizon are none too auspicious. Should the current administration in fact be removed, leadership of the country will pass to the hands of a cabal whose intentions have already been announced, at least in part-intentions that include steps to intensify the fiscal adjustment, thereby undermining social policies and government initiatives in vital sectors like health and education. Conversely, should President Rousseff remain in power, she will face the hard task of rebuilding consensus on a foundation of weakened political support and with the country even more divided, all while grappling with today's economic crisis. Ideological and political loyalties aside (we will not relinquish our right as citizens to profess our beliefs), the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 is under blatant attack. The foundations supporting the democratic rule of law are being threatened, as are the social conquests endorsed in Brazil's newest charter. The country's Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS) is a significant expression of the advances written into the Constitution. Despite flaws and contextual difficulties, the SUS is the successful product of the combined efforts of social movements, progressive intellectual tendencies, and political leaders. In 2016, at the eighth National Health Conference, these sectors celebrated nearly three decades of joint work. At the first conference, attendees debated issues and voiced grievances and thus helped inform the design of the Brazilian health system as outlined in 1988. Now is an opportune moment for us to look back on that event as we endeavor to guarantee enforcement of the resultant agendas and objectives and to preserve advances. We would be remiss if we did not register here our concern over the fate of health in Brazil if the proposals contained in the document "A bridge to the future" are realized. Released in late 2015 by Vice President Michel Temer's party-the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB)-, "A bridge to the future" suggests that the country's would-be future leaders intend to exempt themselves from compliance with the mandatory health sector investments stipulated in the Constitution. In detailing its plans for social welfare and education, the letter leaves clear its faith in neoliberal ideals. We are well aware of the consequences that this approach has had on the health sector-as evidenced, for example, in the historical literature on our recent past.