Institutional Differences in Health

A Comparison Between Brazilian SUS and British NHS

Abstract

Created in 1988 together with the Federal Constitution of Brazil and a national sanitary movement, the SUS is a health system inspired by the models of European countries, especially the NHS (National Health Service) in the United Kingdom. Such health systems are the result of long-term public policies and their characteristics, statistics and public opinions are presented in front of a cultural background, which is composed since the formation of countries. This work assesses attributes of the SUS and the NHS in terms of public policy, access to health, women's health, epidemiology and culture. Databases from DATASUS, NHS DATASETS Digital and Hofstede Insights were used. In terms of culture, two new attributes were proposed for comparison between countries: medical elitism and street level bureaucrats. The results show that the SUS is below the NHS in medical/hospital capacity, close to the NHS in access, women's health and chronic disease control, and below in the control of communicable diseases. In the cultural sphere, the English profile is that of an individual who is more long-term oriented, challenging, focused on science, while the Brazilian is more subordinate, immediate and more in need of assistance and paternalism.