The Health Conferences began 70 years ago, complying with the provisions of the sole paragraph of article 90 of Law No. 378, of January 13, 1937. The mandatory holding of Health Conferences was maintained in 1990, when the Law No. 8,142 established them as collegiate bodies of representatives of the various social segments, with the mission of evaluating and proposing guidelines for the formulation of health policy at the municipal, state and national levels.
Also from Law No. 8,142, a period of four years was established for the holding of Health Conferences, which should necessarily count on the participation of organized social movements, entities linked to the area of Health, managers and health service providers.
Convened by the Executive Branch or, extraordinarily, by the Health Council, the Conferences have as main objectives to assess the health situation and propose guidelines for the formulation of health policy at the three levels of management. This means that the deliberations of the Conferences must serve to guide governments in the elaboration of health plans and in the definition of priority actions at the state, municipal and national levels.
With each new Conference, an important increase in the participation of civil society has been observed, a phenomenon that guarantees the definition of increasingly democratic health policies. The Conferences are privileged forums that civil society has to discuss and point out solutions to problems involving the health of the Brazilian population.
It is in the spaces of the Conferences that society articulates to guarantee the interests and needs of the population in the area of Health and ensure the different ways of thinking about the SUS, as well as to expand, together with society, the dissemination of information about the System, to strengthen it.
It is in the spaces of the Conferences that society articulates to guarantee the interests and needs of the population in the area of Health and ensure the different ways of thinking about the SUS, as well as to expand, together with society, the dissemination of information about the System, to strengthen it.
Participatory management in the Unified Health System – Participatory management and the appropriation of the right to health are a constant challenge, since the expansion of social control over the State ultimately depends on society’s participation in the definition and exercise of the rights of citizenship, as well as the culture of participation that is created both in institutionalized spaces and in interpersonal relationships.
Therefore, strengthening social control and participatory management, as a policy of a popular democratic government, represents the commitment to identify, trigger and strengthen devices that promote the participation of the population.
Health Conferences
When the sole paragraph of article 90 of Law no. formulation of policies for the area in the spheres of municipal, state and national management. With the Federal Constitution of 1988, community participation in the context of health is established, being regulated by Law No. area services.
In article 1 of this law, it is established that: “The SUS will have, in each sphere of government, without prejudice to the functions of the Legislative Power, with the following collegiate bodies: I – the Health Conference will meet every four years with representation of the various social segments, to assess the health situation and propose guidelines for the formulation of health policy at the corresponding levels, convened by the Executive Power or, extraordinarily, by it or by the Health Council; (…)”.
By 2015, 15 National Health Conferences had been held. Entities linked to the health area, managers and service providers in the sector, organized civil society and users gain legitimacy to occupy these spaces. An effort to enforce popular democracy and participatory management in the Unified Health System (SUS).
The deliberations discussed in the National Health Conferences are the result of the debates that took place in the states, through the State Conferences, which, in turn, result from the proposals arising from the Municipal Conferences. It is this local representation that guarantees the legitimacy of the event as a collegiate instance of the various segments represented. The Conferences provided historical transformations for health management in Brazil, as in the case of the 8th National Health Conference, in 1986, whose final report served as the basis for the elaboration of the chapter on health of the Federal Constitution of 1988, resulting in the creation of the SUS .
