SUS - Sistema Unica de Saúde is a system that has long been in crisis. When such vast sums of money have been pumped into the system one might ask, why? In most cases the funds and projects are mismanaged in the extreme.
You needn't look too far to find a hospital wing, or entire facility, that has been constructed and fully equipped and sits unused for various (political) reasons. They are everywhere in the country. The very facitlities that the public has paid for and so desparately is in need of sit idle everywhere.
In many cases here in Brazil one government administration begins construction on a much needed medical facility, be it a hospital, public health clinic (UBS - Unidade Básico de Saúde) or a new hospital wing. Lo and behold along comes an election year and a new administration is voted into office... one of the first things that they usually do is suspend and abandon the projects of the previous administration in order not to lend credance to their accomplishments while in office. Sad, but true. They [the politicians] couldn't care less how this effects the general public since they all have private healthcare at the expense of the taxpayer.
In other cases much needed facilities go unused simply because no funding is forthcoming for their operation once completed. Also in many cases money is not invested in maintenance of existing facilities and they fall into an alarming state of disrepair and in most cases are unusable.
Until such time as it becomes a criminal offense to suspend and abandon such projects as hospitals, schools, highways, etc., once construction has begun the Brazilian people will continue to suffer from this absurd practice.
What happened from the billions of Reais that were collected in CPMF which was brought in to fund healthcare? Who knows? Recently the Brazilian taxpayers narrowly escaped a similar new tax under a different name which would probably been equally as ineffective. The Brazilian people deserve so much more than they are getting from their government... sad.