Brazil is a country of continental dimensions with widespread regional and social inequalities. In this report, we examine the historical development and components of the Brazilian health system, focusing on the reform process during the past 40 years, including the creation of the Unified Health System. A defining characteristic of the contemporary health sector reform in Brazil is that it was driven by civil society rather than by governments, political parties, or international organisations. The advent of the Unified Health System increased access to health care for a substantial proportion of the Brazilian population, at a time when the system was becoming increasingly privatised. Much is still to be done if universal health care is to be achieved. Over the past 20 years, there have been other advances, including investments in human resources, science and technology, and primary care, and a substantial decentralisation process, widespread social participation, and growing public awareness of a right to health care. If the Brazilian health system is to overcome the challenges with which it is presently faced, strengthened political support is needed so that financing can be restructured and the roles of both the public and private sector can be redefined.

The purposes of this article are to review the concepts of health services access and utilization and to analyze how these concepts interrelate. Access is a complex concept (often used inaccurately) which changes over time and according to the context. Health services utilization is at the core of health systems functioning. Despite some disagreement, according to this review the prevailing perspective is that access is related to characteristics of services supply. Health care services utilization can be applied as a measure of access, but use of services depends on other factors. Individual and contextual factors influence the use of services. The article shows that the concept of access is becoming more comprehensive and is changing its focus from entry into the health system to outcome of care. Access is valued in relation to its impact on health and depends on the effectiveness of care delivered. As an outcome measure, access becomes multidimensional and difficult to operationalize. Finally, the article discusses how health determinants differ from those of health services utilization, which impacts directly on illness, but only indirectly on health.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o perfil de morbidade referida, acesso e uso de serviços de saúde em homens e mulheres no Brasil, segundo idade e região urbana e rural. Os dados da PNAD/98 mostram que as diferenças de gênero na morbidade variam com a idade: desfavoráveis aos meninos até os 10 anos e desfavoráveis às mulheres a partir dos 15 anos, aumentando até os 64 anos e reduzindo após esta idade. A alta prevalência de atendimento indica que as barreiras de acesso dos que procuram serviços de saúde são pequenas. No entanto, o elevado percentual de não procura face às necessidades percebidas sugere que as barreiras de acesso são anteriores e dependem da oferta. A cobertura por planos de saúde é bem maior na região urbana, mas não há diferenças de gênero significantes nas regiões. As diferenças entre homens e mulheres nas taxas de uso curativo são pequenas, se comparadas com as de uso preventivo, maiores para as mulheres, assim como as taxas de internação, mesmo excluindo os partos. O financiamento das internações não foi diferente entre homens e mulheres, ao contrário do financiamento de outros tipos de atendimento: maior cobertura por planos para mulheres na região urbana; na região rural, maior uso do SUS para as mulheres e maior desembolso de recursos próprios para os homens.

Brazil is a large complex country that is undergoing rapid economic, social, and environmental change. In this Series of six articles, we have reported important improvements in health status and life expectancy, which can be ascribed largely to progress in social determinants of health and to implementation of a comprehensive national health system with strong social participation. Many challenges remain, however. Socioeconomic and regional disparities are still unacceptably large, refl ecting the fact that much progress is still needed to improve basic living conditions for a large proportion of the population. New health problems arise as a result of urbanisation and social and environmental change, and some old health issues remain unabated. Administration of a complex, decentralised public-health system, in which a large share of services is contracted out to the private sector, together with many private insurance providers, inevitably causes confl ict and contradiction. The challenge is ultimately political, and we conclude with a call for action that requires continuous engagement by Brazilian society as a whole in securing the right to health for all Brazilian people.

The incidence of patients with adverse events at the three hospitals was similar to that in international studies. However, the proportion of preventable adverse events was much higher in the Brazilian hospitals.