Acessibilidade aos serviços de Atenção Primária à Saúde em municípios rurais do Brasil.

Abstract

Accessibility is indicated as one of the relevant structural elements of Primary Healthcare; it is at this level of attention where requirements prove to be different, once it is set up as a preferential entry to the health service system. Every municipality in Brazil has the power to organize, execute and manage services and actions related to aspects pertaining to the structure of the primary healthcare units and the organization of the work process of the health teams related to socio-organizational accessibility to Primary Healthcare services in rural municipalities of Brazil. A cross-sectional descriptive study that used secondary data related to Family Healthcare teams in Brazil which adhered to the third cycle of the National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Healthcare (PMAQ-AB). The sample comprised of 2,940 municipalities, with populations equal or inferior to 20 thousand inhabitants, classified as rural municipalities (remote and adjacent rural areas), participants of the external assessment of the 3rd PMAQ-AB cycle. The results obtained in this study indicate deficiencies, both in aspects of the structure of the health units as well as in the work process which hinder accessibility to the health services, such as the healthcare environments and pharmacies; supplies and medication for emergency medical care; immunobiology and diagnostic tests in the unit, working hours/days of the unit; dealing with spontaneous demand; sample collection for medical exams and procedures, insufficient professionals to form the core team, availability and use of information technology. Considering that few of these municipalities have other levels of health systems, a structured Primary Healthcare would offer a more effective care to the population. The development of other studies could contribute towards understanding the issues faced by primary healthcare in rural and remote municipalities.