Health regionalization and federative cooperation in Brazil: the role of inter-municipal consortium

Abstract This paper aims to investigate public inter-municipal health consortium operation in Brazil. To this end, a qualitative documentary analysis was conducted on the content of the agreements between the consortia and the Federal Government, available at the Transparency Portal of the Federal Government, from 1996 to 2016. The results cover two categories: agreements concluded in Brazil and the content of the agreements signed by an inter-municipal public consortium (CIS). The agreements signed were concentrated mainly in the Southern and Southeastern regions and aimed to carry out regional actions, thus contributing to health regionalization. However, challenges related to the process of cooperation and coordination between the health management bodies persist, mainly related to the improvement of linkages between the consortium and the regional health coordination and in-depth social control of these organizations.