Public heath challenges in coping with COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: an integrative review

Abstract

Objective: to identify the main public health challenges facing the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the main difficulties in this chaotic period for Brazilian health. Materials and Methods: This is an Integrative Review (IR) of a descriptive and exploratory nature. With the purpose of developing the guiding question, the domains of the PECo strategy were applied. A bibliographic survey was carried out in February 2023 in the databases: LILACS and MEDLINE via BVS, ColecionaSUS and Science Direct. DeCS and MeSH were selected as descriptors, in which both were linked by the Boolean AND operator. Thus, 10 scientific articles were selected to compose the final sample. Results and Discussion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, public safety authorities faced a number of challenges, including: misinformation, social inequality and economic impact. Final Considerations: It is believed that strengthening democracy and defending the SUS is one of the (perhaps only) ways to face the health crisis that the population is experiencing face to face.