Prevention and control of oral cancer: contribution of the Bipartite Inter-Managers Commission in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Expanding access to oral cancer prevention and control requires constructing an inter-municipal care  network. The Bipartite Intermanagement Commission  (CIB) plays a central role in this process. This study  aims to analyze, from the perspective of the Structuring Theory, the participation of the CIB in structuring oral cancer prevention and control actions  within the scope of the Unified Health System, in the  state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This exploratory case  study analyzes documents from the CIB of Rio de  Janeiro between 1996 and 2019. Data collection and  extraction took place in the first quarter of 2020. Two  researchers individually analyzed the content of 739  documents in the categories: Constitution of the  health network; Financing of health actions;  Professional qualification in health. Discussions at the  CIB proved to be limited, due to the more municipal  and less regionalized characteristics adopted by the  state for oral health. This formal space for inter- manager negotiation and decision-making has become a merely informative or pro forma  deliberative space, which brings limitations to the  structuring of regional actions for the prevention and  control of oral cancer in the state of Rio de Janeiro.