CHALLENGES IN EQUITABLE ACCESS TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN BRAZIL: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Although access to sexual and reproductive health services in Brazil is supported as a right guaranteed by the State, it is not provided in an equitable manner, contradicting the constitutional principle of universality of the public health system. Given this scenario, the present study aims to investigate the barriers and challenges in women's access to sexual and reproductive health services. This is an integrative bibliographic review of a qualitative and exploratory nature carried out by searching for the descriptors “reproductive health” and “sexual health” on the VHL (Virtual Health Library) and SCIELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) platforms, which resulted in 266 articles, 6 of which were selected after applying the exclusion and reading criteria. From the analysis of the results, it is concluded that difficulties in accessing health services vary according to women's subjective aspects, such as social class, age and race, and involve peculiarities of the regions where they are present. The insufficiency of resources and infrastructure and the selectivity of their offer stand out among the challenges identified, as well as the vulnerability of those assisted, mechanistic care and stigmatization on the part of professionals and the community, based on moral, religious and patriarchal values. Therefore, there is a need to implement service networks based on local needs and characteristics, with coordination between teams made up of trained professionals specialized in women's rights, committed to strategies for overcoming barriers to access to services and promoting of humanized care that favors the adherence of its users.