Avaliação da Atenção Primária à Saúde no contexto da pandemia de COVID-19, no munícipio de Lavras, Minas Gerais

Abstract

COVID-19 is a highly infectious virus, the transmission and the environmental contamination are constantly being studied. The high transmissibility and the socioeconomic implications, make an impact on the daily lives of the population and health professionals (HP). Those last ones are considered, at the most part, as the front-line workers and it makes them more susceptible to infection. The Primary Health Care (PHC) is the gateway to the Unified Health System, the pandemic has led them to reorganize the units, work processes and actions taken. It is important to monitor the professionals who work in this system, covering their COVID-19 knowledge and conduct, as well the understanding of how this level of care was restructured. Given the scenario, this study aimed to characterize, in different aspects, the structure of the PHC in the city of Lavras-MG and how was the organization and rearrangement facing this pandemic. Also, aimed to know the Lavras HP working conditions and knowledge on the COVID-19 theme. Through documental research, a mapping of the PHC service network was made. In parallel, to verify the different aspects of COVID-19 knowledge of the HP, a census survey was applied by the PML in 2020 and a questionnaire exclusive to PHC professionals in 2021. In order to survey the reported cases of COVID-19 and to connect them with the covered area by the Family Health Strategy (FHS), the number of cases was monitored by the SIVEP-flu. Intending to know and understand the actions taken to face the pandemic development in the county, a questionnaire was given to the Community Health Agents (CHA) and interviews were made with key pieces of this level of attention. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using a content analysis technique. Lavras county has 17 FHS teams, covering 60% of the total population, in addition there is two Basic Health Units. Regarding the HP knowledge from the PHC during 2020, they were insecure, and more than half of the participants did not feel prepared to face the pandemic. In 2021, a bigger knowledge level was observed, in addition, new actions against Covid-19 were put into practice. Because of the interviews, it was possible to evidence that a reorganization took place in the physical space of the BHU, the diagnostic tests were scarce at the beginning of the pandemic, there was no significant hiring of new professionals, and the EPIs were sufficient. Furthermore, the CHA followed the handling of cases, changed the working process and didn’t develop intersectoral and social partnerships. The spatial distribution of COVID-19 cases in Lavras occurred in a dispersed way and the areas with the highest concentration of cases were covered by the ESF's. COVID-19 is a health problem that needs to be tackled in a multisectoral, integrated and continuous way. PHC meets all these requirements, if they are placed into the health care practice.