Public Health is the set of measures carried out by the State to ensure the physical, mental and social well-being of the population.
At the international level, public health is coordinated by the World Health Organization – WHO, currently made up of 194 countries. The body consists of a specialized agency of the UN (United Nations) that works side by side with the governments to improve the prevention and treatment of diseases, in addition to improving the quality of air, water and food.
In addition to the political-administrative context, public health is also the branch of science that seeks to prevent and treat diseases through the analysis of health indicators and their application in the fields of biology, epidemiology and other fields related.
public health in Brazil
In Brazil, public health is provided for in the Federal Constitution as a state duty (Article 196) and as a social right (Article 6), that is, a right that must be guaranteed in a homogeneous way to individuals in order to ensure the exercise of fundamental rights.
In order to guarantee this right, the Federal Constitution gave the Union, the States, the Federal District and the municipalities the competence to take care of public health. This means that, within a single system, each sphere of government will have a body responsible for executing and administering services aimed at local health.
It is worth mentioning that the 1988 Constitution was the first to treat health as a political agenda. Before it, there was no legislation that would subject the Government to invest in the area.
Health Unic System
The Unified Health System - SUS, was created by the Federal Constitution of 1988 and is regulated by Law No. 8.080/90 (Organic Health Law), which defines it as follows:
“The set of health actions and services, provided by federal, state and municipal agencies and public institutions, of the direct and indirect Administration and of the foundations maintained by the Public Power, constitutes the Unified Health System (SUS).”
Ptherefore, the SUnified Health System consists of all measures carried out directly or indirectly by the State to improve health public.
The SUS is financed by social security resources from all federal and have the following guidelines:
Decentralization
To serve all regions of the country in a way directed to local needs, the SUS is divided into regional bodies with administrative power. Nationally, the administration of the SUS takes place through the Ministry of Health. In the states, Federal District and municipalities, the administration is in charge of the Health Departments, or equivalent bodies.
completeness
SUS must serve all individuals, without distinction of any kind. In addition, the service must emphasize preventive activities (awareness campaigns, vaccines, etc.) without implying coverage of treatments and curative measures.
community participation
The participation of the people must happen through health councils and conferences where the population can vote and decide which are health issues should be prioritized.
public health principles
Public health in Brazil revolves around the following principles provided for in the Health Organization Law:
- universality of access to health services at all levels of care
- completeness of care
- preservation of people's autonomy in defense of their physical and moral integrity
- health care equity
- right to information, to people assisted, about their health
- information disclosure
- use of epidemiology to set priorities
- community participation
- political-administrative decentralization, mainly in municipalities
- integration between health, environment and basic sanitation
- pooling of resources from the Union, States, Federal District and Municipalities
- ability to resolve services at all levels of care
- organization of specific and specialized public assistance for women and victims of domestic violence in general, which guarantees, among others, care, psychological follow-up and plastic surgery repairmen
With the exception of the last principle (which was introduced into the law only in 2017), these have been the foundations of public health in the country since 1990, when the Organic Health Law came into force.
See too:
- Unified Health System (SUS)
- Health
