HEALTH AT THE BORDERS: A LOOK AT THE DIFFICULTIES OF BRAZILIAN MIGRANTS IN ACCESSING HEALTH SERVICES

Abstract

The protection of the right to health is guaranteed to all and must be guaranteed by the State, however, this right ends up not being fully exercised in international border regions, where many migrants seek health services in the Unified Health System. Thus, this article intends to discuss the historical course of public policies for the universalization of the right to health and its access by migrants. To this end, documentary research was carried out, of the narrative review type, for which it is not necessary to employ explicit and systematic criteria for the search and critical analysis of the literature, however we emphasize that the searches were carried out in national journals, with publications in Portuguese, with complete and free access, without limitation of publication time. In order to have a broad search for studies, the gray literature was also used, for expanding the findings and reducing possible gaps on the subject. The text discusses the fact that the right to health is guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution, however, the immigration phenomenon highlighted the fragility of the structure and the country's unpreparedness in migrant health care and also the lack of public health policies aimed at this population.