Prática da dispensação de medicamentos nas Unidades Saúde da Família em um município baiano

Abstract

This paper studies the practice of dispensation of drugs in the Family Health Units in a city in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The objectives of this study are to analyze the practice of dispensation in the pharmacies of the Family Health Units in a city in Bahia; and to discuss the articulation of the Family Health team in the activities of drug dispensation in the Family Health units. The theoretical referential of this study is based on the comprehension of the process of labor in public health. This is a qualitative research under a critical analytical perspective, having as a field of study 08 Family Health Units in a city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. The subjects participating in the study were divided in three groups: Group I – key informants (three); Group II – workers (sixteen); Group III – users (ten). The data collection techniques were systematic observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Data was analyzed using content analysis. This research was approved by the Ethics in Research Committee of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (Feira de Santana State University), report number 408.270. The observation and data analysis reveals an inarticulate labor process among the subjects, with predominant hard and light-hard technologies, with focus on management activities in detriment to user-centered assistance. Salient among the difficulties in the process are the complete absence of pharmacists in the Family Health Unit pharmacies, inadequate pharmacy structure, and inadequate training of the agents responsible for dispensation, creating the difficulty in providing a quality health care service.