Essential Medicines in Primary Health Care and Health-Related Millenium Development Goals in Brazil

Brazilian Constitution establishes a Universal Health System where the healthcare provided to almost 100 million Brazilians is based on Primary Care and sheltered by the Family Health Program, which is based on a multidisciplinary team. Brazil has undergone rapid changes in major social determinants of health and in the organization of health services. Much of the effort and progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals are directly or indirectly related to essential medicines in Brazil. This paper aim list the available essential medicines for primary health care in the Brazilian public health system and its progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG4, MDG5, MDG6 and MDG8). The following MDG, targets and indicators will be discussed and presented under the light of how essential medicines can help Brazil reach the intended goals: MDG 4, target 5, indicators #13,14 and 15; MDG 5, target 6, indicator #16; MDG 6, target 7, indicators #18, 19a, 19b and 19c; MDG 6, target 8, indicators #21, 22, 23 and 24; MDG 8, target 17, indicator #46. Since 1990, with the establishment of the Brazilian Universal Health System, 7 national lists of essential medicines has been elaborated and revised (1993, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012). The latest version includes 372 different International Nonproprietary Name (INN’s) and less than half of them are for Primary Health Care sensitive cases use. This discussion will explore the viability of primary health care and the use of essential medicines in Brazil and 13 selected indicators of the health-related millennium development goals, focusing on opportunities and threats in realizing health equity.