Abstract
The “De Braços Abertos - DBA” (With Open Arms) program is a public policy of the São Paulo municipality, aiming to promote the psychosocial rehabilitation of socially vulnerable drug users, through a set of rights and assistance actions. DBA’s uniqueness is the intersectorial work approach, unheard of in the drugs public policies field. This work arouse from the ENSP/Fiocruz public health doctorate research. Interviews with managers and professionals from the various sectors of the program were conducted. The qualitative method was applied, producing the main “potentiality, fragility, challenges and sustainability” system of the DBA. The main results were the reduction of abusive crack use; access to work; healthcare access improvement. The main challenges would be the improvement of housing and work development, supported by the social reinsertion. DBA is a new effective initiative, which allows the reduction of drug use and promotes social reinsertion of persons; however, a challenge still lies ahead regarding the intersectorial mangement, taking into account the different political interests and power struggles, but DBA has showed that this is the path to be followed.
Keywords:
harm reduction; crack cocaine; public policy; intersectoriality
