Bioethical reflections on the access of transgender individuals to public health

Abstract

In Brazil, transgender individuals, those whose gender identity differs from the assigned biological sex, are marginalized by society and face difficulties in accessing the Unified Health System. This study sought to identify these difficulties by carrying out an integrative review of papers published in the SciELO, LILACS, MEDLINE, Virtual Campus for Public Health, Base de Dados de Enfermagem, and Coleciona SUS databases, in the last five years. Of the 26 articles found, only nine met the inclusion criteria. Based on their references other nine papers were included, thus totaling 18. Results point to the following difficulties encountered: Hostility in care; disrespect for the social name; technical and scientific unpreparedness of professionals; difficulty of access to gender reassignment procedures; and prejudice. It is therefore of paramount importance to implement interventions to minimize segregation, and invest in further research on this topic.