Mário Magalhães: Development is Health.

Mário Magalhães da Silveira (1905-1986) was the main mentor of the school of thought known as "developmental public health" whose influence peaked at the III National Health Assembly. A critic of the adoption of North American models of public health organization, of the centralism and vertical organization of public health campaigns and the interference of international bodies, the public health doctor held the view that as health is a problem of superstructure, it depends on industrial economic development. He also defended the urgent need to municipalize public health in order to attend to the real needs of the Brazilian population.

[Social exclusion and health inequity: a case study based on a cash distribution program (Bolsa Família) in Brazil].

Objective: To understand the impact of Bolsa Família (PBF), a federal cash transfer program, and to analyze its effects on social inclusion and exclusion processes experienced by low-income families in Brazil, with a focus on the program's potential to help overcome health inequity.

Methods: This qualitative investigation used a case study methodology including observant participation, review of documents, and semi-structured interviews with current and former PBF beneficiaries, as well as with the program's local managers. The study was conducted in a small city in the state of Rio de Janeiro with a high social exclusion index and 100% coverage by the Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família, ESF) program.

The work of community health workers in major cities in Brazil: mediation, community action, and health care.

This paper examines the role of community health workers (CHWs) and discusses the challenges in performing their multiple functions as: mediators linking the community and health services, community organizers, and care providers. A survey of CHWs was conducted in four towns in Brazil. The results indicate that during their home visits and community actions, the CHW perform educational and care activities for priority groups.

[Challenges for human resources management from successful experiences of Family Health Strategy expansion].

This article discusses the management of the work in Family Health Strategy in four major urban centers. The research includes perspectives from different actors who compose and integrate the network of working relationships in Public Health System through questionnaires with employees of professional categories family health team and interviews with managers and representatives of professional bodies. It is a qualitative-quantitative evaluation study.

[Challenges for healthcare coordination: strategies for integrating levels of care in large cities].

This article analyzes the development of instruments for coordination between the Family Health Strategy and other levels in the health system, with a focus on measures to promote coordination linked to the 'integration among levels of care'. The results of case studies in four large cities indicate the presence of mechanism for integration among levels of care, suggesting concern with guaranteeing comprehensive care. The principal strategies identified here were: creation and strengthening of regulatory structures in the Municipal Health Secretariats and family health units with decentralization of roles to the local level, organization of flows, electronic patient charts, and expansion in the supply of specialized services at the municipal level.

Municipal Health Councils of Brazil: a debate on the democratization of health in the twenty years of the UHS.

Over 17 years, Health Councils were created in the 5,564 Brazilian towns, recruiting about 72,000 councilors. Authors affirm that the institutionalization of the Council is important for the democratization of municipal health policy, as it increases the actors who are participating in its decision-making process. However, they state that this is not enough to make this process fully democratized.

Family health: limits and possibilities for an integral primary care approach to health care in Brazil.

The article analyzes the implementation of the Family Health Strategy (FH) and discusses its potential to guide the organization of the Unified Health System in Brazil, based on the integration of FH to the health care network and intersectorial action, crucial aspects of a comprehensive primary health care. Four case studies were carried out in cities with high FH coverage (Aracaju, Belo Horizonte, Florianópolis e Vitória), using as sources: semi-structured interviews with managers and surveys with health care professionals and registered families. The integration analysis highlighted the position of FH Strategy in the health services network, the integration mechanisms and the availability of information for continuity of care.

[The Family Health Program and the construction of a new model for primary care in Brazil].

As part of the implementation of the country's Unified Health System (Sistema Unico de Saúde), the Brazilian Government created, in the second half of the 1990s, the Family Health Program (FHP) (Programa de Saúde da Família), based on community-oriented, multidisciplinary care serving people organized into small groups. For this study, we evaluated the implementation of the FHP, based on three criteria: (1) the construction of the program as an entry point for most health needs and for access to specialized care, (2) the program's linkages with a comprehensive network of health services, and (3) the incorporation of new care practices into the health system. We found that the implementation of the FHP was far from uniform.