Territórios (in)justos na saúde: uma reflexão sobre o conceito de governança territorial na saúde

Abstract

The healthcare debate in Portugal in the last decade has been witnessing, to some extent, two different urgings. On the one hand, the National Health Service is advocated as a supporter of the quality of life and well-being of citizens and, as such, its existence must be maintained as a pillar of the country’s development. On the other hand, the role of the State in the provision and management of health services is criticized, demanding accordingly a change of the existing model. Both arguments, nevertheless, tend to focus more on healthcare per se and its problems related  both to the financial sustainability of the health system and to the lack of patients’ empowerment, and much less on the persisting health disparities, which can exist across many determinants, such as gender, age, socioeconomic status and geographic location, and may also be a result of other policies outside the boundaries of the health sector. The purpose of this paper is precisely to contribute to the widening of this debate, emphasizing the importance of including a territorial perspective in health policy making to attain a greater social justice.