for brazilians, healthcare is a constitutional right provided by the government and private institutions. primary health care, the essential health care based on practical and socially instituted techniques and technology, is made universally available to individuals and families by the brazilian federal government. aspects of this care, such as surgery and high level medical attention, are carried out by individual states, of which there are 27 in brazil.

the country's heath system is based upon brazil's constitution of 1988, detailing the principles and directives for the successful application of health care in a country so big, diverse and populated like Brazil. the government strives to improve the overall situation of health in brazil, with special attention paid to perinatal health care.