30 Years of the right to health in Brazil

What has changed? What remains to be changed? What are the challenges and obstacles?

This international two-day conference takes place at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In 2018 Brazil commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of the inclusion of right to health in its constitution. This was the upshot of a longstanding campaign of the so-called “Sanitary Movement” which certainly had a significant impact. The most visible was perhaps the creation of a universal public health system (the “SUS”) only two years later, with Law 8.080-1990.

But what was the exact impact of constitutionalisation on the population’s health thirty years on? Are there grounds for celebration? How far is there still to go? What are the obstacles and challenges to overcome?

These are the main questions that Professor Octávio Luiz Motta Ferraz, King’s College London and Marta Arretche, Centro de Estudos da Metrópole, Universidade de São Paulo will aim to discuss in their co-organised two-day conference, looking at more specific themes such as the state of the health of the Brazilian population, health inequalities in Brazil, the challenges to the adequate funding of SUS and the so-called “judicialization of health”.

This conference was supported by the King’s Together Fund a multi and inter disciplinary research projects funding scheme that addresses specific strategic research themes such as; Sustainable Growth; Culture & Identity; Healthy Lives and Social Justice. This project brought together three disciplines from Law, Global Health and Social Medicine to the Management and Brazil Institute.

Conference Documents:

The conference's programme

Dr. Octavio Ferraz's Presentation (in Portuguese) 

Scheffer Bahia Braga's Presentation (in Portuguese)