In public debate on the health sector, the subject of health equity has come to prominence as a goal to be achieved in decentralising the Unified Health System (SUS) in order to improve health conditions throughout Brazil for the population as a whole. The debate is already considerably complicated by the need for a precise definition of the concept of equity, evidencing the complexity of the environment in which the public task of reducing inter-regional inequalities is to be performed in a context of interaction and interdependence among world and national economic, social and cultural processes, which pressure government agendas in these times of globalisation. On the basis of (1) a specific interpretation of the concept of equity in decentralised management of the SUS; (2) a current reconsideration of certain proposals for social management that feature in international development debate; and (3) a review of certain authors' theoretical contributions with regard to State action in this heterogeneous and contradictory environment undergoing extensive mutation, this article endeavours to systematise some of the challenges and questions posed in order for health to be managed publicly with a view to equity in the Federative Republic of Brazil.
Equity; Public management; Development; Decentralisation; Health policy