Health reform and Indigenous health policy in Brazil: contexts, actors and discourses

In this paper, the authors use a historical perspective to contextualize the creation of the Indigenous Health Subsystem in Brazil. This study is based on data from interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous subjects and document-based analysis. In the 1980s, during the post-dictatorship period in Brazil, the emergence of Indigenous movements in the country and the support for pro-Indigenous organizations helped establish a political agenda that emphasized a broad range of issues, including the right to a specific health policy. They highlight three main points in their analysis: (1) the centrality of a holistic health perspective; (2) the emphasis on social participation; (3) the need for the reorganization of health care. These points proved to be convergent with the development of the Brazilian health reform and were expressed in documents of the Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI) and the Union of Indigenous Nations (UNI). They were also consolidated in the final report of the First National Conference on the Protection of Indigenous Health in 1986, becoming the cornerstone of the national Indigenous health policy declared in 1999. The analysis reveals that Indigenous people and pro-Indigenous groups were key players in the development of the Indigenous Health Subsystem in Brazil.

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Pontes, A. L. de M., R. V. Santos (2020) Health reform and Indigenous health policy in Brazil: contexts, actors and discourses. Health Policy and Planning, Volume 35, Issue Supplement_1, November 2020, Pages i107–i114.