Why Brazil’s public healthcare system is not a failure

In 2018, the Brazilian public healthcare system, known as SUS (literally, Unified Healthcare System), turns 30. It was born with the 1988 Constitution – and was considered one of the pillars of the new political and social system the country tried to establish after two decades of military dictatorship.

From then on, in principle, healthcare was regarded as a basic right that should be provided by the state to all citizens. Care had to be universal and access to services should be equal.

It took almost a decade for the system to be fully implemented, but in 1996, Brazil finally consolidated a healthcare system that spanned the whole country and was free. The country was the first outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to include universal health coverage in its legislation.

Who uses public healthcare in Brazil?

Today, the SUS reaches more than 70 percent of the population. Before it was put in place, a large share of Brazilians didn’t have any access to health services. Nearly all municipalities have at least one team from the Family Health Program, which focuses on primary care. This type of healthcare is the strategy chosen to integrate all sectors of Brazil’s population and provide them with health services.

The SUS-led National Immunization Program administers 98 percent of all the vaccines in the country. Citizens have free access to every single vaccine recommended by the World Health Organization. More than 90 percent of transplant...