The guidelines and principles of the SUS and the current reconquest of health as a right

Abstract

Introduction: Since the 1988 constitutional text, the construction of the Unified Health System (SUS) has been a challenge, both from the point of view of building its institutional engineering and from the point of view of remaining faithful to the legal principles and guidelines on which it is based. Objectives. To recount the main challenges of this most recent period following the Covid-19 pandemic and two government administrations that sought to deconstruct the advances that had been made in guaranteeing the right to health since the late 80s. Problem: To highlight the recent forms that have been taken and how the tensions between: health as a right/health as an individual consumer good; the public/private relationship in the provision of health services; and the difficult equation between health and democracy are currently being faced. Method: The sources of information and analysis of this process in focus were specialized bibliography, official databases, articulated with each other from a critical perspective that is not restricted to the current challenges faced, but emphasizes the way in which they are being faced. Conclusion: The guiding threads of the analysis point to two interdependent dimensions present in the proposal of health as a right: that the SUS is always a process under construction, so its progress will always be insufficient; and that the central issue that runs through all its facets is the right to health from the point of view of building a democratic society.