Pride of SUS… Pride for whom?

Although many people don’t realize it, March 21st every year is celebrated as Pride SUS Day. A day when health professionals (doctors, nurses, nursing technicians, health agents, and epidemic control aides), volunteers and employees Unique Health System Celebrating and committing to improving the public health system.

This is a global movement, started in 2012, in England, with the “#ChangeDay” movement, in which health professionalsPatients and volunteers made promises to improve health services in England. As a result of the success of this initiative, other countries with public health systems have become part of this movement, and set aside a date to strengthen these measures. In Brazil, the chosen date was March 21, because on the same date, in 1986, the 8th National Congress of Health of the country ended, which is considered a milestone in the construction of the SUS.

In the Brazilian context, where public services suffer from daily assaults, it is necessary to say that any movement to celebrate and cherish something and to public health is very important and must be devoted to the population, and not exclusively to the hypocritical initiatives proposed in the official portal of the City Hall in Rio de Janeiro, such as posts on social networks and individual actions, but to be an instrument of struggle and demand for the state, so that it does what it is supposed to do and ensures an adequate public health care for the entire population of Brazil. It is clear that building a public health system is a collective matter, but it is, a priori, the duty of the state and the right of all.

During the most dangerous period of the pandemic, to date, we have seen health professionals leave their homes and help save thousands of lives. We saw them risk their lives and the lives of their families without any effective state support. Personal protective equipment Overdue salaries, lack of resources, physical and mental exhaustion. On the other hand, most of the Brazilian population, users of the public health system, was losing their jobs, dealing with the cost of living, with food insecurity and the uncertainty that if they fell ill, they would have a bed available at the SUS.

In the face of all this chaotic scenario, it seems that the only proposal of the Rio de Janeiro City Council is to celebrate Pride SUS and it is impossible not to ask ourselves: pride for whom? This is also asked by the health workers themselves, who took to the streets on March 8, 2022, in downtown Rio, in front of City Hall, to demand the transfer of federal funds from the National Health Fund, better working conditions, career plans, professional development, and to combat the severe moral harassment that Victims are countless workers, among other agendas. It is a shame for a country whose health professionals are subject to such terrible working conditions, and has nothing to be proud of, except for the heroism of these workers, who fought bravely, even without the right conditions, against the epidemic and against their diseases.

Now it’s our turn to embrace these workers and put pressure on governments and city councils, so that Pride SUS Day is no longer a hashtag on the net, but also the day the state sticks to the demands of health professionals and care for those who look after us, even if there’s nothing to be proud of.

The text above expresses the view of those who signed it, not necessarily the view of Congress under the microscope. If you want to post something on the same topic, but with a different point of view, send your text suggestion to [email protected].