APS Award in the Unified Health System-Brazil: main results and lessons learned

Abstract

This work presents an analysis of the main results of the ‘APS Forte’ Award in the Unified Health System (SUS), in its three editions, through document analysis and secondary data. In all editions, held in 2019, 2020, and 2021, 3,861 experiences were approved and 26 initiatives from all over the country were awarded. In the first edition, focusing on universal access, experiences of reorganization of the work process in Primary Health Care (PHC) were highlighted, in order to overcome barriers to organizational and/or care access. In the second edition, held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the protagonist role of PHC in the fight against COVID-19 was highlighted, with actions of prevention, attention, surveillance and coordination of care. The third edition raised the need for expanded multiprofessional care practices to achieve PHC comprehensiveness and resolution. The maintenance and expansion of the Award is fundamental for the strengthening of PHC and as an initiative for the construction and consolidation of PHC innovation laboratories in the Brazilian health system.