SUS vulnerability regarding exchange rate variation: Analysis of the dynamics of drugs and health equipment import between 1996 and 2014

ABSTRACT This article is aimed at determining the vulnerability of the Unified Health System when subject to the influence of exchange rates variations on the dynamics of drugs and medical equipment import from 1996 to 2014. The hypothesis that guided this work is that external conditions and economics policies expressed in exchange rates do affect the dynamics of both production and innovation of the Economic-Industrial Complex of Health. It comes to the conclusion that, considering changes that took place, the elasticity of the relationship between import and exchange rate of the segments analyzed herein was not so heavily affected over the period. This result suggests the importance of designing economic models that incorporate those variables.