Political action analysis of the Brazilian Health Care Reform Movement in the COVID-19 pandemic: 2020- 2021

Abstract The aim of this study is to analyze the political action of the Brazilian Health Care Reform Movement (MRSB, Movimento da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira), particularly Cebes and Abrasco, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were obtained through the documental review of publications from the abovementioned entities, which describe their positions on government actions implemented between January 2020 and June 2021. The results show that the performance of these entities included several actions, most of them reactive and critical of the Federal Government’s role in the pandemic. Moreover, they led the creation of “Frente pela Vida”, an organization that brought together several scientific entities and civil society organizations, whose highlight was the preparation and dissemination of the “Frente pela Vida Plan”, a document that contains a comprehensive analysis of the pandemic and its social determinants, as well as a set of proposals to face the pandemic and its effects on the population’s living and health conditions. It is concluded that the performance of the MRSB entities reveals alignment with the original project of the Brazilian Health Care Reform (RSB, Reforma Sanitária Brasileira), emphasizing the relationship between health and democracy, the defense of the universal right to health and the expansion and strengthening of the Brazilian Unified Health System - SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde).

摘要 本研究旨在分析新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）期间，巴西医疗改革运动（Brazilian Health Care Reform Movement，缩写MRSB，葡萄牙语原名Movimento da Reforma Sanitária Brasileira）旗下的Cebes与Abrasco两家机构的政治行动。研究数据来源于对上述机构公开出版物的文献审查，这些出版物阐述了其对2020年1月至2021年6月期间联邦政府各项防疫举措的立场。研究结果显示，上述机构开展了多项行动，其中多数为应急响应类举措，且均对联邦政府在本次疫情中的防控履职表现持批判态度。此外，它们牵头创立了“生命阵线（Frente pela Vida）”这一汇聚多家科研机构与民间社会组织的联合组织，其核心成果为编制并传播《生命阵线计划（Frente pela Vida Plan）》，该文件全面分析了新冠疫情及其社会决定因素，并提出了一系列应对疫情及其对民众生活与健康状况造成影响的具体方案。研究最终表明，MRSB下属机构的行动与巴西医疗改革（Reforma Sanitária Brasileira，缩写RSB）的初始愿景高度契合，着重强调了健康与民主之间的内在关联、对全民健康权的捍卫，以及对巴西统一医疗系统（Sistema Único de Saúde，缩写SUS）的扩容与强化。