The Feminists movements and the process of Sanitary Reform in Brazil: 1975-1988

Abstract

This essay aims to present reflections from a larger, ongoing research project on the relationship between the Feminist Movement and Brazilian Sanitary Reform in the period 1975 and 1988. A little-studied topic in an adverse political scenario, the military dictatorship, but also marked by political and social effervescence, based on preliminary archival research identified events and documents that indicate dialogues between these two social movements. Engaged in the struggle for redemocratization and the democratization of health, these movements presented convergent proposals exemplified by the formulation and attempts of implementation of the Program for Integral Women’s Health (Paism). The first public policy to promote integrality, one of the principles of the SUS, in Paism find propositions defended by the sanitary  movement and linked to feminist issues in healthcare. However, these dialogue appear to have been marked by some difficulties related to the synchronization of so-called ‘broader’ issues with ‘specific’ ones, and the challenges for the elaboration of common issues between the two movements. Recognize, therefore, the complexity of the topic. We dare to present these reflections in order to make explicit the dialogues, the successes achieved and contribute to the construction of renewed strategies of struggle for the right to health.