ABSTRACT
The 1988 Brazilian Constitution, which was established during the formal transition to democracy, enacted the SUS (acronym in Portuguese for Brazilian Public Health System), a universal health care system. This achievement was linked to the efforts of the Brazilian health movement, which mobilized intellectuals, political leaders, workers, health professionals and priests around the ideal of health as a citizen’s right. Now the SUS is recognized as a successful example of policy formation and implementation, with an approach to governance that involves civil society actors in a number of ways. Nevertheless, despite its growth and achievements, there is a popular perception of its fragilities in dealing with citizens’ needs for more complex care and its constraints in serving, for example, migrants and people living illegally in protected environmental areas. The chapter reflects on the formation of political values in relation to health care forged during the 1970s and 1980s, when there was cohesion inside the movement that was fighting against the military regime, and more recent challenges of inclusion, experienced during a democratic regime.
