Cuidados paliativos no Brasil e a efetividade do Direito à saúde digna: limites jurídicos da política nacional de cuidados paliativos

Abstract

The increase in life expectancy, the rise in chronic diseases, and technological advances in medicine have significantly transformed the way society has addressed processes of illness, suffering, and end-of-life care. In this context, palliative care has gained increasing relevance in both the legal and healthcare fields, particularly due to its connection with the fundamental rights to health, human dignity, and patient autonomy. This study analyzed the extent to which the legal and institutional limitations of the National Palliative Care Policy have affected the effectiveness of the right to health in Brazil, especially in situations related to end-of-life care. The research was based on the hypothesis that, despite the normative advances achieved in recent decades, the policy still presented legal, financial, and institutional weaknesses capable of hindering its implementation and increasing inequalities in access to services. The general objective was to analyze the legal and institutional limits of the National Palliative Care Policy in light of the fundamental rights to health, human dignity, and patient autonomy. To achieve this objective, the deductive method was adopted, with a qualitative approach, through bibliographic and documentary research based on the analysis of legislation, normative acts, and specialized literature. The findings demonstrated that, although the policy represents an important step toward the incorporation of Palliative Care into the Brazilian Unified Health System, its effectiveness has remained compromised by the absence of specific federal legislation, the fragility of federal coordination mechanisms, the chronic underfunding of public healthcare, and regional inequalities in service provision. It was concluded that the effectiveness of the National Palliative Care Policy depends on the strengthening of its legal, financial, and institutional instruments, an essential condition for the realization of the fundamental right to health.