POPULATiON, REPRODUCTiON AND HEALTH: NOTES ON THE QUESTION OF A SOCIAL POLICY

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze some aspects of the political process concerning public power decisions, in what refers lo birth control and family planning in Brazil. The seventies and the eighties are examined, focusing initially the latter. Then, a new orientation concerning health policy was established, considering human reproduction and woman's health problems, family planning included. ln this frame, the study considers that a health policy decision giving priority to family planning prevailed, instead of a population policy centered on birth control. The long standing of such a government decision is discussed, considering the existence of political and social forces exerting a pressure in order to adopt a birth control population policy. Finally, an attempt is made to elucidate how the question developed during the seventies, in order to understand the process that led the public power decisions on the matter in the eighties. llaving this in mind, a brief retrospective analysis of the subject is made, describing the array in which this subject evolves, and especially examining the positions of the Brazilian government and of the different social forces involved with the problem.