Federal spending on social policies and the social determinants of health: where are we going?

ABSTRACT Ensuring the highest possible level of health for the population depends on public investments in social policies, since health is determined by factors related to the conditions in which people live and work, the so-called Social Determinants of Health (SDH). Thus, this article aims to quantify Brazil's federal spending on sectoral social policies in the last decade in order to analyze its recent trajectory in a context of economic crisis and fiscal austerity, and to discuss the risk of worsening the health status of the population. To this end, financial data as from the federal executive branch retrieved from Siga Brasil system were used. The results show a reduction in spending on seven of the ten policies analyzed between 2013 and 2019. There was an increase in spending for policies linked to social security, which are related to constitutionally registered rights, with a tradition of enforcing compliance through the justice system. These findings reveal that, despite the increase in expenditure for these policies, other important policies carried out within SDH were de-financed, making it difficult to achieve progress in the health condition of the population, while putting them at risk of setback.