Public Ministry and health policies: implications of its resolute and litigate performance

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the potential contributions of the Public Ministry to effectively promote the right to health according to the use of judicial and extrajudicial action instruments. The characteristics of Brazilian health policies and of Brazilian national public health system (SUS) institutional arrangements were considered to assess the effects of different strategies that have been used by the Public Ministry in the performance of its duties. Furthermore, this article aimed at identifying the performance features of the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais. An interdisciplinary study was undertaken using literature reviews through searches of SciELO, Bireme, and Capes databases and by consulting reference works. To identify the performance of the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais, the normative acts of the institution related to health protection, published in the official press until December 31, 2012, as well as data on procedures registered between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012 were examined. It was concluded that the extrajudicial role of the Public Ministry proves to be more appropriate than its judicial role to deal with the complexity of the right to health and health policies in Brazil. Moreover, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais prioritizes extrajudicial instruments and uses legalization as an exceptional measure.