This work is a compilation of studies produced at the Social Studies Department - Disoc/Ipea to support the elaboration of the document "Brazil: the state of the Union - 2007". Health outcomes in the last decades, health policies after 1988 and the role of the government in health care are...

Different conceptions about distribution criteria in health services are discussed based on the notion of fairness, and in the assumption that health requirements are simultaneously social security needs. Issues of equity and limits in distribution of health services are highlighted as they are...