Anti-racist Actions in Primary Health Care: Practices for Confronting Institutional Racism

Abstract

Institutional racism constitutes one of the main determinants of health inequities in Brazil. Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS – acronym in Portuguese), while ensuring universal and equitable access to health actions and services, faces significant challenges in guaranteeing equity for historically marginalized groups, such as the Black population. By incorporating the confrontation of institutional racism into its management, care, and monitoring strategies, the Secretariat of Primary Health Care (Saps – acronym in Portuguese) reaffirms the Ministry of Health’s commitment to building a more inclusive and equitable SUS, dedicated to safeguarding the right to health. In this context, this descriptive study conducts a critical analysis of the persistence of racial health inequities within the SUS, as well as the challenges related to the effective operationalization of racial equity policies within the scope of Primary Health Care (PHC). The analysis of the intersectionality among care practices, the principles of the SUS, the National Policy for Comprehensive Health of the Black Population (PNSIPN), and the National Primary Care Policy (PNAB) suggests that consolidating antiracist practices in PHC and in the SUS requires a structural transformation of care, management, and knowledge production, incorporating racial equity as a structuring principle.