Flawed but fair: Brazil's health system reaches out to the poor

Abstract

Despite its many problems, Brazil’s revamped public health system has brought quality health care to millions of poorer inhabitants who were previously denied even basic care. Claudia Jurberg reports on how primary health care is playing an essential role.

A dentist examines a child at the Policlínica Regional de Itaipu – the health clinic in Itaipu, a neighbourhood of Niterói, in Brazil.

Maria das Graças Vieira Esteves, director of the Policlínica Regional de Itaipu – the health clinic in Itaipu, a neighbourhood of Niterói, in Brazil. She is in a small park attached to the clinic where children wait to see a doctor or nurse.