JUDICIALIZATION OF HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT: INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN RIGHTS AND CHALLENGES FOR THE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM (SUS)

Abstract

The judicialization of healthcare in Brazil has had significant effects on the formulation and implementation of public policies, especially within the Unified Health System (SUS). This article examines the implications of this phenomenon and its relationship to the discussion on development, focusing on the allocation of public resources and access to healthcare. Adopting a qualitative approach and based on documentary analysis, the research mobilizes institutional data and empirical evidence that reveal the impact of judicial action on health planning and shared management among federative entities. Based on a theoretical framework that integrates discussions on public policies and development, it is demonstrated that judicialization, while legitimizing the individual right to health, frequently destabilizes budgetary rationality and access to essential goods and services. The analysis highlights the need to strengthen inter-federative coordination mechanisms, restructure primary care, and qualify the technical support units for the Judiciary, as ways to mitigate the negative effects of judicialization. It is concluded that the right to health, in order to fulfill its structuring role in development, must be treated as a collective public policy, based on planning, adequate financing, and inter-institutional articulation. Overcoming current distortions requires transforming the fragmented logic of judicial intervention into a cooperative logic of democratic and integrated management of the SUS.