Health and development in Brazil: progress and challenges

Abstract

The structural sustainability of the Brazilian health system refers to the country's pattern of development according to how this pattern is expressed and reproduced in the Brazilian population. This derives not only from its social dimension, but also from the economic one, as it accounts for a significant part of the gross domestic product and of job creation, and produces a great impact on the generation of innovation and national competitiveness. The federal government has institutionalized the role of health in the national development agenda due to its strategic aspect. Despite this, the fragility of its productive base continues to be a major vulnerability for the National Health System and for Brazil's competitiveness in a global environment. This signals that the virtuous establishment of the relation between health and development involves the rupture of cognitive and political paradigms that separate, in an impermeable way, the economic from the social order.