Potentialities and challenges for the implementation of the National Policy on Workers’ Health (PNSTT) in Primary Health Care

Abstract

We are approaching the 5th National Conference on Workers' Health. In the view of the authors of this essay, this event represents one of the most important and strategic spaces for public debate and grassroots demands since the country’s redemocratisation. The objective of this manuscript is to analyse the potentialities and challenges involved in implementing the National Policy on Workers’ Health (PNSTT) within Primary Health Care (PHC). To this end, the text is structured into three sections. The first presents the main advances achieved since the implementation of the PNSTT. The second section discusses the main challenges to realising the PNSTT in the context of PHC — particularly the difficulties faced by Family Health Strategy professionals in incorporating Workers’ Health actions into their daily practice. Finally, we point to possibilities, pathways, and proposals for delegates, the scientific community, and social and popular movements to reflect upon and discuss potential alternatives for achieving comprehensive care for workers’ health in Brazil. We hope that this manuscript contributes to deepening the debate, encouraging the emergence of new ideas, strengthening the PNSTT, and, above all, promoting concrete improvements in Workers’ Health in Brazil.