Dall’Alba R, Teixeira MB, Reis INC, Sousa IMC. How can public policies related to Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicines in Brazil contribute to an equitable and intercultural health system?. Interface (Botucatu). 2026; 30 (Supl. 1): e250194 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/interface.250194
Abstract
This article examines policies related to Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicines (TCIM) in Brazilian National Health System (SUS) and their alignment with World Health Organization concepts and strategies. Using a multilevel approach, this study explored the integration of traditional knowledge, national policies, and care practices within SUS. The analysis identifies advancements and structural challenges across political, epistemological, and operational dimensions, including financing and care models that recognize ancestral knowledge and cultural diversity as core components of comprehensive care. The study highlights that TCIM integration in SUS transcends therapeutic expansion, emerging as a strategy to operationalize equity and integrality principles. Consolidation requires overcoming structural barriers through synergies between scientific research, participatory governance, and epistemic recognition of TCIM as intangible cultural heritage and intercultural care tool. This underscores the need to legitimize TCIM within health systems through interdisciplinary dialog and institutional support.
Keywords
Traditional complementary and integrative medicine; Public health policies; Health promotion; Collective Health; Equity
Access in: https://doi.org/10.1590/interface.250194
