Poverty and social inequality: Tensions between rights and austerity and its implications for primary healthcare

Abstract

The relationship between poverty and healthcare is evident in Brazilian society, con-stituting one of the faces of the inequalities resulting from a perverse social context. Focusing specifically on primary healthcare, this review of the literature on health policy highlights the tensions between the social question, social rights, and current austerity policies, and the latter’s effects on healthcare for the poorest segments of the population. The 1988 Constitution represents a social pact that goes against the principles of austerity policies imposed by neoliberalism. With the deepening financial crisis and approval of Constitutional Amendment 95/2016, social pro-tection policies such as those underpinning Bra-zil’s national health system (“Sistema Único de Saúde”) find themselves under threat, with direct consequences for the country’s population. Despite the country’s achievements in improving access to healthcare for the poorest, austerity measures are likely to strengthen barriers, seriously threatening the progress made in operationalizing the right to health. Therefore, considering that primary healthcare is a differentiated care model, this study reiterates the relationship between primary care and the social dimension, given that the impacts of the dismantling of social policies on population health are already being felt.