HEALTH SURVEILLANCE AND ITS INSPECTION POWERS IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

Abstract

The concept of health surveillance has evolved from the mere application of "police power" to incorporate the concept of risk management into its practices. It also engages in mass communication and develops educational initiatives of public interest through various areas of activity: Education and Guidance is the pedagogical power, that is, the capacity of professionals to educate and guide in Health Surveillance. Inspection is the "police power," exclusive to the state, exercised through inspections, issuing summons and violations, closing establishments, seizing products and equipment, among other actions. The objective of Health Surveillance is to eliminate, reduce, and prevent health risks inherent in the production and use of products and services of interest to health or the conditions of their environments. To operate, Health Surveillance possesses the attribute of police power, of an administrative nature, which allows it to limit the exercise of individual rights in the public interest. Any product, substance, process, or service directly or indirectly related to health may be subject to intervention. Surveillance requires knowledge from various specialized disciplines within the health field and others, such as law, which are articulated in an organized set of technical and political practices, of a multidisciplinary and interinstitutional nature, aimed at protecting health. This study aimed to describe how health surveillance's oversight power has been exercised in health facilities, understand how health surveillance responds to irregularities found in health facilities, and determine the oversight and evaluation tools health surveillance uses. The methodology used in this study was descriptive research, a literature review, with a qualitative approach and a basic nature. Given the above, it is clear that to ensure the effective and efficient performance of its responsibilities, its main instrument of action is the Sanitary Standard—the legislation that specifies what is right and wrong, what can and cannot be done by the regulated sector. In this context, ANVISA and VISA (Health Surveillance Agency) perform a normative and regulatory role, as well as an educational role, through the creation and implementation of..