Vigilância sanitária e Ministério Público: interrelações de parceria na proteção da saúde ; Health Surveillance and Prosecution Office: Interrelationships of Partnership in Protection of Health

Health surveillance's role in the control of health risks, due to the nature of the objects in its field of action, often requires a partnership with other instances, including the Prosecution Office. The aim of this article was to identify and discuss challenges and potentialities of the relationship between health surveillance and Prosecution Office. This is a qualitative and descriptive study, with data produced using the focus group technique carried out with health surveillance workers, grouped into two thematic categories and analyzed according to the content analysis technique. The study identified, in sanitary inspection actions, a partnership relationship between health surveillance and Prosecution Office, recognized by the workers, as a reinforcement for the fulfillment of sanitary requirements, by the regulated segments. It also identified a relationship of dependence on the Prosecution Office, in certain situations, for the health surveillance to be able to carry out its institutional action of sanitary control. In addition, resulting from the many demands that the Prosecution Office presents to the health surveillance, it can be seen as a hierarchical superior , which, if prioritized, would increase the workload and interfere in the health surveillance's planning and routines. The relationship between health surveillance and the Prosecution Office has a strong potential for cooperation in favor of collective health, especially due to the insufficient political power of health surveillance in subnational instances in its role of health regulation and surveillance. These relationships also require reflection in light of the respective competences and responsibilities of the entities involved. ; A atuação da vigilância sanitária no controle de riscos à saúde, devido à natureza dos objetos de seu campo de ação, necessita, muitas vezes, de parceria com outras instâncias, entre as quais o Ministério Público. O objetivo deste artigo foi identificar e discutir os desafios e as potencialidades da relação ...