The Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, and the Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, launched this Tuesday (28), in Brasília, the Women in Health Forum.
The space will be for permanent debate and collective construction of public policies aimed at women through social participation in the Unified Health System (SUS). The initiative aims to promote women’s comprehensive health.
The Ministry of Health highlights that the creation of the forum reinforces the federal government’s commitment to gender equity and valuing the female presence in the SUS.
At the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, explained that women’s health is the department’s priority.
“Women are the ones who use the SUS the most, whether to take care of themselves or, often, to accompany their son, husband, father, grandfather. They are the majority of professionals [de saúde] also. In SUS, 75% of professionals are women. In healthcare as a whole, in public and private healthcare, 65% are women. So, it has to be an absolute priority.”
The Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, and the Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, during the launch of the Women in Health Forum – Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
The initiative aims to ensure that public policies meet the real needs of Brazilian women. Therefore, the Minister of Women, Márcia Lopes, highlighted that the creation of the forum, with the representation of different social segments, can contribute to the construction of public policies aimed at women.
“In the states and municipalities we have groups, movements, entities, public authorities or public and community leaders who know the local reality and have answers for it.”
Supporters
Present at the event, the wife of vice-president Geraldo Alckmin, Lu Alckmin, highlighted the importance of the process “of listening and dialogue to value female voices”.
Activist, businesswoman and former model Luiza Brunet defined the forum as an important channel of communication with ministers, deputies and other people who can contribute to validating women’s voices.
“In addition to taking care of our women, we also have to educate husbands so that they can trust their wives, so that they can have mental and physical health compatible with what we need. Because, when a woman is taken care of, she is a woman who suffers less violence.”
Social worker Elisandra Martins de Freitas, known as MC Lis da Batalha das Gurias, representative of the movement hip-hopcalled for attention to mental health and for suggestions from existing social movements to be considered.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel to find the potential of the territory. A suggestion for the forum is to seek to know what movements are already taking place in the territory and which are opportune to be able to add to this entire process”, he suggested.
The representative of the National Movement of Recyclable Material Collectors (MNCR) in the Federal District, Aline Sousa, highlighted that 80% of the sector’s workforce is made up of women and that 72% of them are black.
She cited the importance of recycling materials for public health and assessed that the segment has a lot to contribute to the new forum. “Often, collectors are not aware of this because we are just after survival. But we know, there are new generations of collectors who are making the older ones aware of our impact, which is much greater than ensuring income.”
Women in Health Forum
Coordinated by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Ministry of Women, the Women in Health Forum will have a consultative and propositional nature.
Topics related to women’s health will be discussed, such as sexual and reproductive health, childbirth and postpartum care, menopause, menstrual health, gender-based violence, mental health and cancer prevention.
The first meeting is scheduled for January 2026.
Women’s health
The Secretary of Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health, Ana Luiza Caldas, listed a set of actions by the federal government to promote women’s rights and expand access to health.
Among them, the Menstrual Dignity Program, created in 2024, which already benefits 3.7 million women and girls with the free distribution of 392 million sanitary napkinsin an investment of more than R$195 million.
Other strategic policies mentioned include the Alyne Network, which allocates R$1.2 billion to maternal and child care, and the spaces known as Sala Lilás, aimed at welcoming women who are victims of violence.
