The Health Care Network for the Transsexual Population

Abstract

SUS brought the principles of universality, integrality, and equity to guide health actions and services, which must be free from any form of prejudice and discrimination. The formal care network was understood as the one that is institutionalized, and the informal network is an affective network. This research aimed to understand the access to the health care network in the perception of transsexuals in a municipality in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais, through the qualitative methodological approach with descriptive study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight transsexual people. The information was analyzed using hermeneutics-dialectics. Barriers to the formal care network were disrespect to the use of the social name in health services, prejudice, and unpreparedness of professionals. Therefore, care and information on hormone use are sought in informal networks. The informal network welcomes, but the search for care only in these networks can bring health risks. The research showed the existence of a strong affective network in the municipality and the need to establish a solid formal care network for the transsexual population with wide participation in the informal network, since the formal network is unstable and does not meet health needs of that population.