If you have interest in understanding how is organized the Brazilian health system, considering a legal-constitutional approach, access here the paper "The construction of the right to health in Brazil" which describes the last 20 years of evolution of the Brazilian national health system.
The paper was written by Sueli Dallari, scientific coordinator of the Center of Research in Health Law of the University of São Paulo, Libera docens of Health Law and Professor of the School of Public Health of the University of São Paulo.
The Construction of the right to health in Brazil
Versión en ESPAÑOL La construcción del derecho a la salud en Brasil
Abstract: As a result of immense social participation, the right to health in Brazil received constitutional acknowledgement for the first time in 1988. This study intends to understand the scope of this statement and verify its legal and jurisprudential implementation. Based on the evolution of health and law concepts, the study concludes that the right to health should involve the constant social participation in order to be delineated. Additionally, it verifies that the regulatory framework is being constructed according to the constitutional requirements. However, this work takes into account that the judicial construction has occurred erratically and that the higher courts rarely discuss the health policy described in the Brazilian Constitution of 1988. The conclusion is that the statement of the right to health has demonstrated constitutional force, considering that both the major legislative development in accordance with contemporary understanding and judicial control of the implementation of health policy are still nascent.
This paper was published at Revista de Direito Sanitário / Journal of Health Law in November 2008. For reference: DALLARI, Sueli Gandolfi. A construção do direito à saúde no Brasil. Rev. Direito Sanit., Nov 2008, vol.9, no.3, p.9-34.)