Fig. 1

Hierarchical organization of the Unified Health System in Brazil and the relationships between levels of care. The figure illustrates the hierarchical organization of the Unified Health System (SUS) and the relationships between levels of care. On the right side are the SUS principles that cover all levels of health care, bidirectional arrows show this interdependence. At the bottom, it is shown that the population’s demands must reach the primary level, contained in the shaded rectangle and are directed to health units with the Family Health Strategy (FHS) or to the Basic Health Unit (BHU). The main difference between the units is that the first has a defined territory and population, and operates under the logic of teamwork, while the second does not. Support actions by the Family Health Support Center (FHSC) contribute to increasing the scope of FHS actions and improving health conditions. It is indicated that PHC can solve about 80% of the population’s demands by coordinating the care of people between the levels of care, as shown in the triangle on the right