Childcare in the SUS: childcare from the perspective of comprehensive health care

Abstract

The term childcare is attributed to pediatricians but has been used by the Family Health Strategy. This  article makes a brief history of childhood and the  evolution of its care until the creation of the Unified  Health System (SUS). The premise is that childcare has always meant child care. This essay aimed to  understand the history of childcare and contribute to  update its meaning and importance for early  childhood care in the context of Primary Health Care,  based on the narrative review on child care and  childcare in the scientific literature and documents  from the Ministry of Health. Childcare has been  updated with the evolution of actions for child care. It  started individually, through charity and philanthropy,  and today it has expanded, operating in a network,  coordinated by Primary Care. The term childcare is  rescued as child care and inserted in the network  through public policies. Care should be offered from  the perspective of comprehensive health care,  wherever the child is, meeting their needs, including  those of children with permanent disabilities. These  debates need to be included in the training of  pediatricians and can contribute to coping with the  fragmentation of care.