Response in the fight against covid-19 in 2020: the partnership between the municipality of Salvador and the state of Bahia

• Autor(a) principal: Barbosa, Poliana Brito
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Fernandes, Antônio Sérgio Araújo, Amorim, Alana Mendonça, Teixeira, Marco Antônio Carvalho, Nascimento, Alex Bruno Ferreira Marques do
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Baiana de Saúde Pública (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://rbsp.sesab.ba.gov.br/index.php/rbsp/article/view/3545
• topic: Cooperação intergovernamental; SUS; Covid-19; Política Pública; Cooperación intergubernamental; SUS; COVID-19; Política pública; Intergovernmental cooperation; SUS; COVID-19; Public Policy

In response to the decreasing deterioration of the dichotomy of centralization versus decentralization as a key to understanding the dynamics of Brazilian federalism, federative cooperation has become a fundamental theme in the political and research agenda in Brazil. A considerable number of studies in the national and international scenario highlights the need to build coordination mechanisms and partnership between different governmental levels to solve collective action and public policy problems. Intergovernmental cooperation gained ground from forms of federative cooperation, one of which was established in the scope of public policies design and had the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) as a precursor – whose collaborative bases were already established through the principles of services hierarchization and regionalization in the constitutional text. The model assumes national federative articulation with the role of coordinating, inducing, and funding the Union while maintaining relevant autonomy in relation to subnational governments. Internal and external factors arising from political and economic instability induce changes in the way public policies are addressed, especially regarding the health field. The COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges to the current health policy conjuncture in Brazil, whereby subnational governments implemented actions proven effective in the fight against the disease by means of an interfederative cooperation whereas the Federal Government proposed measures contrary to scientific evidence, relying solely on the opinion and will of the President. Thus, this article aims to demonstrate the cooperation established between the Government of the State of Bahia and the Municipality of Salvador in the fight against the pandemic. It consists of a descriptive study based on a qualitative approach with document analysis and non-participatory observation. The results indicate the numbers of COVID-19 cases in both in Brazil and Bahia, the panorama of hospital beds programmed and qualified to cope with the disease, the actions implemented on several fronts, and effects of social isolation and sanitary measures at the regional level. The interfederative cooperation between the Government of Bahia and the municipality of Salvador is aligned with the literature on public administration, thus indicating the potential gain of intergovernmental cooperation arrangements.