OBJECTIVE:

to analyze the time trend on the demand and lack of access to public health services in Brazil.

METHODS:

this is a panel of cross-sectional studies with data of the National Household Sample Survey (1998, 2003, 2008) and the National Health Survey (2013); the prevalence of demand and lack of access within the fifteen days prior to the survey was estimated; Poisson regression was used for trend analysis.

RESULTS:

the demand for health services increased from 13.0% (95%CI 12.3;13.7), in 1998, to 15.0% (95%CI 14.5;15.4), in 2013; the lack of access remained stable, being of 3.7% (95%CI 3.2;4.2) in 1998 and 4.5% (95%CI 4.0;5.0) in 2013.

CONCLUSIONS:

the increase in demand for health services and the stability in the lack of access indicate improvements in the Brazilian public health system performance; additional efforts are required to ensure universal access to public health services in Brazil.

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