Women, health and the future of Brazil – 06/04/2022 – Opinion

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The Brazilian Network of Scientists (RBMC) This year, with the voices of women scientists from different regions and regions of the country, there will be a debate on the core themes of democracy, justice and sustainable development. In order to contribute to reflection on the Brazilian reality, in the coming months we will clarify the topics that should guide electoral programs and proposals. We opened this trip with a discussion of challenges and perspectives for the health policy agenda and women’s health policies.

The dismantling of health policies, through the destruction of available policies and programmes, gained momentum in 2016 with the KPU approval of the spending cap and, starting in 2019, with the intervention of Jair Bolsonaro’s government (PL) and the weakening of spaces. of political participation. Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on a series of difficulties that have worsened in recent years, affecting health policies.

The lack of funding for the Unified Health System (SUS), the difficulties faced by the population in accessing health services and the quality of care provided are some of the challenges that have been exacerbated in the context of the pandemic. The consequences were seen, for example, in the very high rates of maternal mortality, particularly among black women, during the pandemic in Brazil and in the deaths of women due to lack of access to treatment for chronic diseases during this period.

Reflecting on health challenges necessarily involves considering the impact of social and structural inequalities that cause disease in socially vulnerable groups, including Black women, Indigenous people, and rural and urban women; traditional peoples and societies; Transgender people and people with diverse gender expressions and identities.

For these groups, the impact of the pandemic has greater implications, both because of the intensification of inequalities in periods of crisis and because, for them, the epidemic represents the disruption of public health services.

From the women’s perspective, we cite the suspension of legal abortion services and the assault on sexual and reproductive rights. Among indigenous peoples, complaints of omission against indigenous bodies responsible for primary health care and territorial protection in implementing coping measures. For the black population, we highlight the excess deaths in cases of coronavirus and the greater difficulty in getting vaccinations.

In times of elections, it is essential to remember that Brazil has tremendous social diversity. In the face of the human and environmental crises promoted by a dominant production and consumption model, we must ask ourselves: What can we learn from the people and women who have protected different biomes and produced lifestyles that are inseparable from health and the environment? In light of the racial, ethnic, gender and class disparities affecting the population living in Brazil, including access to health services, it is necessary to rethink ways to ensure public policies that seek social justice, political participation and equity.

It is imperative that the governments elected in October put strengthening the unified health system at the center of the policy agenda, and invest more in the policies that comprise it. Furthermore, it is important that socially vulnerable groups be active participants when considering these policies. Rebuilding the country after the pandemic includes strengthening the SUS, improving health policies and broadening the debate about it.

_{Helena Barrow
Federal University of Oberlandia (UFU)}

Lila Carvalho
University of International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Language (Unilab)

Michelle Fernandez
University of Brasilia (UnB)

Raquel Dias – Scopel
Fucruz – Ministry of Health

_{* The authors are part of the Brazilian Network of Women Scientists (RBMC).}

_{Directions/Discussions
Articles published jointly do not reflect the opinion of the newspaper. Its publication follows the purpose of stimulating debate on Brazilian and global problems and reflecting the different directions of contemporary thought.}