The political economy of health in Brazilian territory and its industrial complex: an analysis based on the concept of productive space circuit

Abstract

The political economy of health in Brazilian territory is based mainly on the constitutional guarantee that health is a citizen’s right and a State’s duty. However, this right came into force only after the Federal Constitution in 1988. At the time of its proclamation, the country’s population was 145 million people, and the new constitutional law increased even more demands for industrial products aimed at Medical attention. Health as a right property has led to the transition from a national industrial sector to the es stablishment of the current transnationalized industrial health complex, which monopolizes much of the supply of the necessary inputs to the national health system organized and regulated by the Unified Health System. This process witnessed the entry of transnational companies in the health sector and the intense growth of finished goods flows and semi manufactured industrial inputs, evidencing the consolidation of new characteristics in the territorial division of labor. We analyze the industrial health complex in Brazilian territory based on the concept of productive space circuit, as proposed by Santos (1988).