Positioning of user representatives in the State Health Council of Bahia in view of the worsening of SUS sub-financing in 2016-2018

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze the
orientation of user representatives in the Health
Council of theBahia (CES-BA) in face of the decisions
of the Federal Government finance the Unified
Health System (SUS) in the period 2016-2018.
The theoretical reference is based on the notion of
participation incorporated in the SUS legal code,
which instituted Health Councils and the holding
of Health Conferences as spaces for formulating,
supervising and evaluating health policies at
the various organizational levels of the system.
Data were collected via document review and
interviews with representatives of the segment “users”
at CES-BA. The results include the characterization
of the political-associative profile of the entities
represented in the State Health Council and
the orientation of the counselors on changes in SUS
financing in the 2016-2018 period. It discusses the
low representativeness of some population groups
at CES-BA and the perception of councilors about
Constitutional Amendment 95 and the influence
of political parties on the dynamics of councils.
The conclusion shows the relative importance of
technical qualification in the face of the experience
accumulated by the councilors and the need to
articulate them with the social bases they intend to
represent, especially in the current political situation
of the country.