O direito à saúde e o paciente oncológico: perspectivas do pressuposto constitucional da dignidade humana

Abstract

The aim of this Final Paper is to adress the right to health and cancer patients from the perspective of the constitutional premise of human dignity. Starting with a historical and conceptual analysis of malignant neoplasms, it initially seeks to emphasize public policies aimed at cancer treatment, in which the vulnerability of the human being is unraveled at the threshold of fundamental rights. With this, we discuss health as a promoter of dignity and its practical limitations of a recursive nature, in order to then focus on the growing judicial instrumentalization of Brazilian public health, specifically on the cancer patient. In the meantime, the state’s defensive narrative for denying the right to health and life has been constructed and challenged. We present reflections on future prospects in relation to the right to health of cancer patients, highlighting the need for investment, partnerships and improved public policies. At the end of the paper, we summarize the main points covered, highlighting the complexity of the issue and the importance of integrated actions to guarantee the right to health. In conclusion, there is an analysis, based on judgments of the Superior Courts and legal regulations, specifically the effectiveness of dignified state protection of the social right to health for cancer patients, emphasizing the imperative need for cooperation between the federal entities in changing the factual reality in force in the national territory, considering the limiting factors of human dignity, the reserve of the possible and the existential minimum.