Evaluation of the More Doctors Program: experience report

Abstract

The universal and equitable access to health is established in the Brazil Federal Constitution of 1988 and must be guaranteed by the Brazilian Unified Health System – The Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). The lack of professionals and the large regional differences in the distribution of human resources, mainly physicians, are factors that contribute to the non-fulfillment of SUS principles. This article reports the experience of evaluation of the Medical Program (PMM) by a multidisciplinary team composed of 28 researchers, based on field work in 32 municipalities with 20% or more of the population in extreme poverty selected in all regions of Brazil (remote areas, far from capitals and rural maroon communities), as well as analyzes of the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities based on the Ministry of Health databases. The research resulted in a vast scientific production, pointing important results such as broadening access to health and reducing avoidable hospitalizations. The reflections brought here show that PMM contributed to the implementation and consolidation of SUS principles and guidelines and guaranteed access to health, especially for the poorest populations, small municipalities and remote and distant regions.