An assessment of legislative responses to cancer in Brazil’s House of Representatives

• Published in: Journal of cancer policy 2023-09, Vol.37, p.100429-100429, Article 100429
• Main Authors: Corrêa, Lucas Hernandes, Siqueira, Marina Martins, Maluf, Fernando Cotait
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brazil; Cancer prevention; Health legislation; Public health policy
• ISSN: 2213-5383; 2213-5383
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100429

Cancer is a public health issue in Brazil. To mitigate exposure to risk factors, change habits and ensure access to cancer care, an increasing number of bills are presented every year. This article analyzes the changes proposed in these bills, portraying how the representatives perceive and respond to the challenges imposed by cancer on the healthcare system and society. Through a systematic search on the Brazilian House of Representatives website, this exploratory study examines cancer-related bills presented up to 2022. Of 1311 bills identified, 310 met the inclusion criteria and were categorized based on their content. The increasing annual number of cancer bills reflects the interest of representatives on the topic. The cancer types addressed correspond to the most prevalent ones, except for the colorectal. The most common strategy is primary prevention (n: 129), proposing the reduction of risk factors exposure or the promotion of protective ones, followed by tertiary (n: 106) and secondary (n: 36) strategies, targeting, respectively, cancer treatment/management and its early diagnosis/detection. On the nature of proposed changes, most seek to implement increased healthcare access (n: 125), production/sale (dis)incentives for goods containing carcinogens (n: 60), and fiscal/financial (dis)incentives (n: 53). The identified gaps - such as the limited use of data and evidence to support what is proposed, overlapping but fragmented efforts with previous bills, scarce efforts directly addressing the determinants of health, and the low rate of conversion to law - entails opportunities to advance the Legislative propositions. To effectively respond to cancer-related challenges, is essential that the Legislative branch takes into account what is already being proposed or being left out, inputs from society, real-world data, and the results produced by the multisectoral policies in place. •There is a considerable and increasing yearly number of cancer bills in Brazil.•The cancer types frequently addressed correspond to the most prevalent ones in Brazil.•The most common strategy to address cancer within bills is the primary prevention.•Most bills seek to increase/improve access to cancer care in the public health system.•There is limited use of data and evidence to support what is proposed in the bills.