The authors discuss trends in Brazilian health sector reform in the 1990s. They emphasize the dynamics of situational and structural changes which stigmatize the meaning of the Welfare State and thus end up undermining the basic solidarity characterizing the Social Security project (which included health). They also criticize the neoliberal model, which includes a privatist and narrow approach to the health sector, as compared to the model and principles of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). Nevertheless, they identify various elements that can be used to reinvigorate the Health Reform process written into the 1988 Constitution.
Health reform; Health policies; Neoliberal reforms