Challenges of primary health care financing: integrative review

• Autor(a) principal: da Silva, Ivanise Brito
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por; eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira em Promoção da Saúde
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.unifor.br/RBPS/article/view/5919
• topic: Primary Health Care; Financing; Unified Health System.; Atención Primaria de Salud; Financiación del Capital; Sistema Único de Salud; Atenção Primária à Saúde; Financiamento; SUS.

Objective: To evaluate the way Primary Health Care financing occurs in Brazil, reflecting on the existing advances and obstacles. Method: This is an integrative review carried out in the period of June and July 2016. The search was conducted in the electronic databases Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME) database and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), using as descriptors "primary health care" and "financing". The eligibility criteria of the study were Brazilian scientific articles, indexed in the period from 1994 to 2016, written in English, Portuguese or Spanish, and being available in full text. Publications in the thesis, dissertation and book chapter format, those not related to the research topic, as well as those dealing with studies on PHC financing carried out outside Brazil, were excluded. Results: The search resulted in 290 publications. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 articles were obtained, from which two thematic categories emerged: "Underfinancing: a challenge for PHC" and "Decentralization and obstacles to PHC financing". Conclusion: The findings of this review identified different obstacles to the financing and establishment of policies for the improvement of primary health care in the country, pointing out that transfers and allocations of resources should be analyzed in a more discerning and reflective manner. The articles examined present as the main problems faced in financing: insufficient funds, the need to establish clearer parameters for intergovernmental transfers, the development of a management that understands and interact with the local difficulties, and the greater autonomy of the municipalities in setting priorities in counterpart to financing directed at specific programs.