Abstract
This article in essay form is an invitation to reflect upon the emancipatory character of health surveillance, a debate that was interrupted in the 1990s. In these times of grave political and institutional crisis in Brazil and in the year of the first National Conference on Health Surveillance (1ª CNVS, acronym in Portuguese), it is particularly appropriate to revive the critical theoretical and epistemological discussions that have grounded the trajectory of Latin American social medicine and public health over the last 40 years. To this end, I draw on aspects of critical thinking on modernity devised by the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos, who postulates three pillars of domination: capitalism, colonialism (or coloniality), and patriarchy. In the current context of a crisis of civilization, rethinking emancipation requires us to refresh our understanding of the meaning of social struggles in terms of their relationship with the knowledges and epistemologies undermined by modern civilization and still present in the Global South, whether in spaces occupied by indigenous peoples and poor farmers or in urban peripheries.
Highlights
The reflection proposed by this article in essay form is guided by a key question: to what extent can health surveillance be emancipatory and what are the limitations and challenges it faces in modern times? My attempt to contribute to this debate is based on over 40 years of experience in the field of public health research and policy-making within Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese)
This document outlines critical challenges for health surveillance policy and action in the context of the major backward steps taken by Brazil leading to the rupture of pacts established by the country’s 1988 “citizens’ constitution” and the albeit limited and contradictory advances made by the PT (Workers’ Party), brought to an abrupt end by the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff
I revive the debate around health surveillance that first arose in the 1980s driven by the field of Latin American social medicine (LASM) and, in Brazil, by the health reform and public health researchers
Summary
The reflection proposed by this article in essay form is guided by a key question: to what extent can health surveillance be emancipatory and what are the limitations and challenges it faces in modern times? My attempt to contribute to this debate is based on over 40 years of experience in the field of public health research and policy-making within Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese). The reflection proposed by this article in essay form is guided by a key question: to what extent can health surveillance be emancipatory and what are the limitations and challenges it faces in modern times?
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