Popular movements hold rally in São Paulo in defense of the SUS (Brazilian public healthcare system).
Popular movements in the health sector held an event today (3), in the open space of the São Paulo Art Museum (Masp), on Paulista Avenue, in defense of the Unified Health System (SUS); the action, called "For a SUS the Size of the Brazilian People: Without Fear", is part of the Week of Mobilizations in Defense of the SUS and Social Security, and was organized by entities that make up the Popular Brazil and People Without Fear fronts.
Bruno Bocchini – Reporter for Agência Brasil
Popular movements in the health sector held an event today (3), in the open space of the São Paulo Art Museum (Masp), on Avenida Paulista, in defense of the Unified Health System (SUS). The action, called "For a SUS the Size of the Brazilian People: Without Fear", is part of the Week of Mobilizations in Defense of the SUS and Social Security, and was organized by entities that make up the Popular Brazil and People Without Fear fronts.
"The government is saying that the SUS (Brazilian public healthcare system) is too big, that it spends more money than it can afford, and that we have a system today that cannot deliver on its promises and, therefore, needs to be reduced," highlighted Tiago Silva, from the Popular Doctors and Physicians movement.
“But the SUS [Unified Health System] is a system that has expanded the right to health with health centers, hospitals, UPA [emergency care units], CAPS [psychosocial care centers], all in just a few years, from a historical point of view. And if we look at it, this is about to be destroyed. The little that we have achieved is at risk at this moment,” added the doctor.
The protesters, who gathered under the open space, carried signs with slogans such as "Health is not a business, it's a right," "I am in favor of the SUS (Brazilian public healthcare system) and against the coup," and "The SUS does not belong to a political party, it belongs to the Brazilian people."
According to Sonia Fleury, PhD in political science and former president of the Brazilian Center for Health Studies (Cebes), what is at stake is the destination of public resources, which also finance the SUS (Brazilian Public Health System). “What has been in dispute in the country all these years, and now with much more clarity, is the dispute over public funds. Where will public funds be allocated?” she said. “Are we only going to pay off debt, the profitability of financial capital and tax exemptions, or are we also going to take care of the population as part of citizenship rights?” she questioned.