The cost of affordable healthcare: How Brazil's SUS and generic drug strtegy produce structural inequality and challenge global pharmaceutical rules

Authors

• Elena Kössler, St. Mary's University

Files

Contributor

Donoso, Claudia (Faculty Mentor)

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Keywords

Healthcare, Affordability, Cost efficiency, Structural Inequality, Pharmaceuticals

Description

Affordable healthcare is often seen as a major social achievement, but maintaining low costs involves important trade-offs. Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS) provides universal healthcare and relies heavily on generic medicines to expand access. This raises a central question: how can a system reduce the cost of healthcare while simultaneously generating new forms of inequality and tension within global pharmaceutical markets? This paper argues that Brazil’s cost-reduction strategy, particularly its reliance on generic medicines, improves affordability but also produces structural trade-offs between equitable access, quality of care, and incentives for pharmaceutical innovation.

Format

PDF

Size

1 poster

City

San Antonio, Texas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.