Equity is one of the pillars of Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS). However, analysis of the scientific literature shows that the concept of equity is polysemic and open to many interpretations. The scope of this article is to identify the meanings conferred upon equity in the discourse of SUS managers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals in three municipalities in the state of Sao Paulo, namely Marília, São Carlos and Santos. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and organized using the Discourse of the Collective Subject method. In the analysis of the results, three core categories were identified: Treat everyone in an egalitarian manner; treat the unequal in an unequal manner, prioritizing the most needy in accordance with their social and economic status; and treating the unequal in an unequal manner, prioritizing specific groups in accordance with risk criteria. The managers acknowledge equity as being a SUS principle and seek prudent clinical and epidemiological criteria to justify their choices in allocating resources. There is a need for further research into the concept and operationalization of equity and the need to hear the other actors of SUS who are involved in the actions and are jointly responsible for decisions on healthcare.
Equity in health; Health management; Public health policies