Marcio Oliveira

by Marcio Oliveira. Aug. 2009 The healthcare sector continues to be a strong player in both public and private investments in Brazil. The Federal Government has announced a budget of about US$ 30 billion for 2009, which is the biggest fund for the Health Ministry since the early nineties. It is estimated that the whole of the health sector will grow by 3.5% in 2009, which is higher than the prediction for the rest of the economy. As is widely known, the Brazilian public sector health services network (SUS 1 ) is quite unique and different from that of any other country in Latin America. The Ministry of Health owns and runs (through the SUS) 75% of all ambulatory services in the country, but 80% of hospitals providing services through the SUS are private, a network comprised of more than 65,000 outpatient clinics and 6,000 hospitals. It is currently estimated that 25% of Brazilians use a private system and are covered by private health insurance plans. The remaining 75% use either pub