Delduque is coordinator of the Health Law Program of Fiocruz Brasília and of the Graduate Studies of Escola Fiocruz de Governo (EFG). She was elected this year as president of the Lusophone Association for Health Law (Aldis), University of Coimbra, and was vested in the office in September. The appointment represents a great challenge: promoting the dissemination of health law knowledge throughout the countries where Portuguese is the official language.
The researcher is currently coordinating the project of specialization on health law at distance, which is her activity area, with the support from Fiotec. “We are aware that attending courses have not a wide reach and there is a visible need in the formation of health law specialists throughout Brazil. That is why we have launched a course at distance in August, at specialization level, for the managers of the Unified Health System (SUS), in the 27 state health departments”, explained Mrs. Delduque.
In an interview to Fiotec, the coordinator talks about the course, some of the projects already developed in 35 years of activity with Fiocruz and about her new challenge of presiding Aldis. Read it in full:
What are the challenges of the health law area?
The acknowledgement of the right to health care in Brazil happened through its inscription in article 196 of the 1988 Federal Constitution. This brought numerous challenges: to the health professionals, as legal factors influence on the limitation of authorities, on the legality of measures or on the attribution of duties; and to the legal area professionals, as it required the completion of the legal grounds with all the infra-constitutional legislation necessary, finding procedural means for the effectiveness of the right to health care and ensuring the legal means for rebuilding it in the event of violation. That was the time the health law awareness revealed to be necessary to everyone that, somehow, must act and decide on the health area.
What are the most critical issues of the health law in Brazil?
There is still a gap in lato sensu courses on health law in the country, which makes diffusing that knowledge harder. Moreover, the difficulty of making courses at master’s and doctor’s degree level in the health law area, due just to this low contingent of researchers on the theme in Brazil, compromises the acknowledgement of stricto sensu courses in this area by the Higher Degree Personnel Qualification Coordination (Capes).
What is the purpose of the health law specialization course?
There is in Fiocruz Brasília the Health Law Program (Prodisa), offering specialization courses since 2003. This is an attending course and is in its 8th class, having certified almost 200 students in the last few years. As we are aware that attending courses have not a wide reach and there is a visible need in the formation of health law specialists throughout Brazil, we have launched a distance course. Both modalities of course offer are intended to fill the gap of knowledge on health law and aim at qualifying professionals and/or higher degree students, in special those acting or interested in the legal or health areas, for building a systematized vision of the right to health care and of the legal-political institutions created for making its concretization feasible, under the context of the health and constitutional reality in Brazil.
What was like being elected as president of Aldis?
I was very happy about the nomination and election for president of Aldis, I was not expecting that. Aldis is connected to the Biomedic Law Center of the Law School in the University of Coimbra. This is a knowledge investigation, broadcasting and exchange center, aiming at an active participation in the development of health law in the Lusophone countries. It also promotes the exchange and mobility of researchers, taking advantage of the mechanisms and networks already existing or making new forms of participation.
How will you act as president of Aldis?
I have been working with the Lusophone countries for a while now and I think this permanent work was what led me to this position. It gives me a great responsibility, as I am sure that the members of the association want to see the real dissemination of knowledge on health law throughout the Portuguese language countries. Not all members of the association have the same opportunities regarding access to courses, congresses and other ways of diffusing knowledge on health law. Bringing to the African Portuguese language countries attending and distance, lato and stricto sensu courses having health law as theme will be the my greatest challenge and I believe Fiocruz and Fiotec will be major partners in that venture.
What were the results from the project “From planning to policy: ensuring the right to health care for all people in the prison system”?
This work counted on a huge number of people with the merit of hearing and talking to the organized society, families of prisoners, former prisoners, public safety professionals, health professionals etc., about the best way of integrating the Brazilian jail population in SUS. In this sense, a policy capable of meeting the peculiarities of that community was developed for ensuring the right to health care for people deprived from freedom. So, in January 2, 2014, through the Interministerial Ordinance no. 01, the National Policy of Full Attention to the Health of People Deprived from Freedom in the Prison System (PNAISP) was created, within the scope of SUS. This is because it is understood that, when somebody receives a freedom restricting penalty, the only right lost is that to freedom. The other rights, to health care in special, remain the same, and this requires the jail system to ensure it, in partnership with the health care system.
Other project under your coordination was supporting the production of content for organizing the regulation in the Unified System of Social Service. What is this system about?
The Unified System of Social Service (SUAS) has been under construction throughout Brazil following the SUS framework. Prodisa, together with several players invited acting in the regulatory process of other policies, has discussed, analyzed and debated the legal and institutional role of SUAS regulation and prepared a document delivered to the Ministry of Social Development that could help in the discussion about proposals for improving the system regulation model. SUAS is part of the Social Security System and results from art. 203 and 204, Federal Constitution. This is a social policy independent from contribution, servicing a certain segment of the population through benefits and services. Such service is not restricted to the poverty aspect, as some may think. This is a policy complementing SUS.
