A cultura da medicalização e os impactos no sistema público de saúde brasileiro

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the increasing and irrational use of medications, often fueled by the Pharmaceutical Industry and aggressive marketing that promotes drugs as "magic pills capable of curing everything." This poses serious risks to the population's health due to the inappropriate choice of medications, improper exposure to drug adverse reactions, increased bacterial resistance, and self-medication. This excessive use of drugs corresponds, in large part, to the phenomenon known as medicalization, conceptualized by Conrad (2007, p. 19) as a process in which non-medical problems are defined and treated as medical, imposing the risk of overloading the Brazilian healthcare system and diverting focus and funds from genuine pathologies. This raises the question of whether certain situations should be treated as social issues rather than medical problems. To this end, this study gathers information to address the following research problem: Is Brazil influenced by this culture of medicalization? If so, what impacts can medicalization have on the Brazilian Unified Health System? To achieve the desired goals, the research is structured into five sections, with the first being the introduction; the second is dedicated to the analysis of health and disease from a historical perspective; the third focuses on the concept and contours of medicalization; the fourth addresses health as a consumer product, and the fifth and final section concerns the budgetary allocation of medications. The research therefore used bibliographic research as a procedure. Finally, the research concluded that Brazil is influenced by the medicalization of health, as both this phenomenon and the need to rationalize the use of medications are recognized by the responsible bodies for SUS management. Subsequently, it was deduced that medicalization results in a considerable budgetary impact on the Brazilian Unified Health System, since the increase in the quantity of medications, technologies, and procedures to be funded by the public administration in the face of medicalization strains the system and causes disorganization.