Right to health and patient safety as fundamental rights in Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Silveira, Cristiane
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Robazzi, Maria Lucia do Carmo Cruz, Sanches, Roberta Seron, Resck, Zélia Marilda Rodrigues
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Cadernos Ibero-Americanos de Direito Sanitário (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://www.cadernos.prodisa.fiocruz.br/index.php/cadernos/article/view/915
• topic: Right to Health; Patient Safety; Patient Rights; Human Rights; Derecho a la Salud; Seguridad del Paciente; Derechos del Paciente; Derechos Humanos; Direito à saúde; Segurança do paciente; Direitos do Paciente; Direitos Humanos

Objective: to discuss the right to health and patient safety as fundamental rights in Brazil. Methods: this is a descriptive, reflective study. Scientific texts were used through electronic searches in MEDLINE databases via PubMed and LILACS. Brazilian legislation and other documents from the World Health Organization, the National Health Surveillance Agency, and the Ministry of Health were included in the analysis. The study was conducted between August 2021 and February 2021, with no data cutoff. Results: with the recognition of health as a social right in the Constitution, the vulgar concept of health as the absence of disease has been defused, and such an expanded concept requires public policies to solve or minimize problems related to patient safety. The right to health must be based on the realization of fundamental rights and on the quality of health systems that must be offered by the state. Thus, patient safety is a characteristic of the quality of health care and a factor that must be considered by jurisdictions. In Brazil, there is a legislative gap on patient safety. The resolutions of the National Health Surveillance Authority and the National Patient Safety Program are the guiding documents for health care. Conclusion: it is noteworthy that the law can be considered as a core mechanism in the development and implementation of health care with quality and safety, since the law is the strongest instrument of intervention in society, which makes it necessary to search for specific legislation in Brazil.