This paper is the opinion of a health professional holding public office and participating directly in the health field, where he has accompanied the various phases in the Brazilian health reform process. The author analyzes the health sector's institutional design within the sphere of social security, a chapter in the Federal Constitution; Act 8.080, expressing the legislative development of the Constitutional concepts; and the so-called Basic Operational Norms that were created as the justification to proceed with (or as the term itself suggests, to operate with) the changes provided for under the Constitution and the National Health Act. The paper provides a critical view which may not coincide with that of other actors involved in this process, but the goal is to fuel the debate and contribute to a process by which, once and for all, health in Brazil will be considered the right of all and the duty of the state.
Health reform; health policies; public health