Brazilian Cities Advance Comprehensive Municipal Care Policies
Municipal legislatures in Curitiba and Pouso Alegre advance policies formalizing care rights and support for vulnerable groups and caregivers.
- • Curitiba's proposed Municipal Care Policy aims to recognize care as a fundamental right and address gender disparities in unpaid care work.
- • The policy promotes intersectoral collaboration across health, education, and social assistance sectors.
- • Pouso Alegre approved a law creating a Municipal Policy of Home Care for individuals with severe brain injuries.
- • The home care policy includes family guidance, psychological support for caregivers, and multidisciplinary continuum of care.
- • Both initiatives reflect a broader trend of Brazilian municipalities formalizing care policies to support vulnerable populations.
Key details
Recent municipal legislative initiatives in Curitiba and Pouso Alegre exemplify Brazil's commitment to enhancing care policies for vulnerable populations and caregivers. In Curitiba, councilwoman Laís Leão proposed a Municipal Care Policy aiming to formally recognize and integrate essential care activities, such as assistance for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. The policy tackles significant gender and racial disparities in unpaid caregiving work, where women spend on average seven more hours weekly than men. It also promotes intersectoral strategies spanning health, social assistance, education, and labor sectors to improve care access, autonomy of care recipients, and caregiver formalization. The project authorizes educational campaigns and research to identify care service needs and is currently under review by Curitiba’s City Council committees.
Meanwhile, in Pouso Alegre, the City Council unanimously approved Project Law nº 8156/2025, establishing guidelines for a Municipal Policy of Home Care directed at individuals with severe brain injuries requiring total care. Proposed by councilman Fred Coutinho, the policy emphasizes comprehensive, continuous, and humane attention, including family guidance, psychological support for caregivers, therapy referral, and multidisciplinary home care teams. It aims to facilitate safe hospital discharge, reduce prolonged hospitalization, and strengthen integration of municipal health and social services. Coutinho underscored the pressing need for inclusive public policies aligned with constitutional universal health rights. The law now awaits executive sanction in Pouso Alegre.
These initiatives reflect growing municipal efforts to formalize care as a public right and social responsibility, addressing both systemic inequalities and the complex needs of vulnerable populations and caregivers across Brazil.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.