Podcast discusses health plan crisis and SUS overload – 06/21/2023 – Podcasts

Created in 1988, the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde) serves approximately 190 million Brazilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health for 2022. Of these users, 80% use only the public health system.

Responsible for vaccinating Brazilians during the Covid-19 pandemic, the SUS was honored on social media and even featured T-shirts with Zé Gotinha, the vaccine mascot, and phrases like “Value the SUS”.

But this is not the only facet of Brazilian public health. Overcrowded hospitals and gigantic queues are part of the system’s daily life. In 2023, the number of elective surgeries awaiting scheduling exceeds one million, according to Health data.

And another crisis concerns specialists: that of health plans, which serve 30 million Brazilians and complain of fraud and operating losses. The decrease in the performance of the supplementary health system would lead to increased pressure on the SUS.

This Wednesday’s episode (21) of Brasil à Vista discusses how to make the SUS more efficient, how the health plan crisis can affect the public system and what can be done to solve problems such as the return of diseases considered eradicated, like measles.

The topic is discussed with specialists Marjorie Chaves and Rudi Rocha. Marjorie is a researcher at UnB and coordinator of the Black Population Health Observatory, and Rudi is a professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and director of research at Ieps (Institute of Studies for Health Policies).

The program is hosted by lawyer Irapuã Santana and reporter Angela Boldrini. Irapuã holds a PhD in procedural law from UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro), is a lawyer at Educafro and president of the Racial Equality Commission of the OAB-SP.

Angela is a journalist and podcast host at Sheet and has been on the microphones of Café da Manhã and Suffrage, a program about women and politics supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Sound editing for Brasil à Vista is by Raphael Concli.

The episodes are published every Wednesday at 8 am on the main podcast platforms and on the Sheet.