Health subjects, territory agents: The community health agent in immigrant primary care

Abstract

With the intensification and diversification of international migratory flows to Brazil and the need to integrate the immigrant population into essential services, new dynamics are presented in the Primary Health Care. Considering the Bolivian population that uses the services of one Basic Health Unit in São Paulo, this work seeks to understand what the role of the community health agents is, in order to guarantee the principle of universality of the public health services offering access and including the immigrant populations. Through qualitative interviews, examined through content analysis, it was possible to verify that the community health agents appear as essential actors to guarantee the right of access to the health system. Hence, they are responsible for the promotion of health care and they are also the agents of the territory, building up social networks for the holistic care.