The National Men’s Health policy making process

Abstract

This paper analyzes the National Men’s Health policy-making process to recognize the participation of the various social stakeholders in the formulation of this public policy. To this end, this work seeks to identify the events that preceded the construction of the document, the strategies used to promote the participation of different interest groups and the mechanisms for the agreement and decision-making process. Institutional documents, academic references and interviews with agents participating in the process were analyzed. We identified that the Policy’s intention emerged from the action of the Brazilian Society of Urology. The Ministry of Health drew other agents closer to the political process, but the biomedical perspective prevailed. The agents’ participation built on knowledge transfer, with little room for confronting conflicts in the construction of politics, although the final document had been released as an expression of consensus. The contradictions and disputes around the definition of men’s health have been silenced.

Keywords:
public policy; social participation; men’s health; health policy