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Together for Health wraps 2024 with an increase in the project portfolio

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In 2024, Together for Health, an initiative by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) managed by IDIS, expanded to all states in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, covering more than 350 cities.

Overall, more than 100 million BRL will be invested to strengthen public health in the North and Northeast regions throughout a four year period. Through a matchfunding strategy, BNDES and other supporters made donations that have allowed the program to support 14 projects committed to providing healthcare services to the population assisted by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS). 

IDIS Together for Health team in September 2024. Credit: André Porto and Caio Graça.

Primary Health Care in the Brazilian Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde – SUS)

Launched in January 2024, the public notice ‘SUS Primary Health Care in the North and Northeast regions’, was an initiative by Together for Health in partnership with Umane with the goal of supporting projects that would enhance Primary Health Care in cities in the North and Northeast regions with less than one doctor for every 1,000 habitants. Altogether, those selected could receive up to 20 million BRL in matchfunding. 

Selection committee for the Primary Health Care notice (June 2024). Credit: Rosana Fraga/BNDES.

Through a thorough selection process, which included Q&A webinars and multiple phases for participants, in July 2024, five projects were selected to receive financial support amongst more than 40 applicants. Therefore, by the end of 2024, some of the selected initiatives, such as ‘United for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Brazil’ and ‘NoHarm: Intelligence for Patient Safety’ were already starting their activities. 

“We expanded ‘Together for Health’, an impact program in partnership with BNDES and other private organizations, with the goal of strengthening the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) in the North and Northeast regions of the country. This year, we approved ten new projects, five of them selected through the public notice with the support from Umane. Overall, we finished 2024 with 14 projects approved in the Program, with a presence in all of the 16 states of the North and Northeast regions, amounting for a total of more than 110 million BRL invested in those territories until 2026”, said Luiza Saraiva, IDIS manager of Together for Health.

 

Regional Impact

During the year, the Together for Health team also conducted a series of follow-up and field monitoring visits to the cities participating in the various projects which are a part of the program. 

In March, a meeting in São Luís in the state of Maranhão, brought together partners and representatives from 21 out of the 24 cities participating in the Social Protection Health Cycle project. Already in September, the team made a field visit to Lagarto, Sergipe, to follow-up on the results of the Dashboard of Mental Health Indicators project, which concluded its activities in the previous month.

IDIS, BNDES and ImpulsoGov (project executor) teams in Lagarto, Sergipe. Credit: IDIS.

Closing Cycles 

In addition to being a year of expansion and implementation of the program, this was also the moment of closure for two projects of the Together for Health initiative. The Dashboard of Mental Health Indicators, supported by BNDES and RDSaúde, and executed by ImpulsoGov, helped expand access to simplified data and information for mental health managers in the 10 participating cities, in order to better guide the management made by the professionals involved in mental health services. Moreover, the first cycle of Impulso Previne strengthened the healthcare management in 19 cities where it operated through the increase in the use of health indicators, especially the cytopathological indicator, which is essential for the prevention of cervical cancer.

Perspectives for 2025

When one door closes, another one opens. We finish 2024 proud of what has been conquered so far. Throughout the second half of the year, the Program saw the formalization of procedural stages of new projects. With the support from public and philanthropic resources to the selected projects, in 2025 , we will be able to expand our work even more, aiming for a more technological and democratic public health system for the North and Northeast regions of the country. 

“During the first two years of the Together for Health program, we dedicated ourselves to structure processes, gather supporters and executors, and therefore were able to build a diverse project portfolio with ambitious goals aiming for the strengthening of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) in the North and Northeast regions. For 2025, we hope to empower our partner network, promoting rich exchanges, collective learning experiences and integrating solutions that can enhance the results at the front line. Furthermore, we continue closely following the results accomplished on the territories in order to better comprehend the views of our beneficiaries – SUS health care professionals – and to better understand the impacts of our actions”, highlighted Luiza Saraiva.

Together for Health Program closes its first year with the prospect of reaching almost 300 municipalities

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In 2023, Juntos pela Saúde (Together for Health) Program was launched, an initiative of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) managed by IDIS. Aimed at strengthening the public health system in the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, the Program supports projects that operate in places with coverage gaps, prioritizing municipalities with less than 1 doctor per 1,000 inhabitants. The financial support offered to these projects is based on the logic of matchfunding, a fundraising model that multiplies the donations raised.

For every real (Brazilian currency) donated by partner organizations, BNDES adds another R$1,00, doubling the amount that will be transferred to health projects. The goal is to have approximately R$ 200 million (equivalent to USD 40 million)  by 2026. The supported projects undergo a validation process envolving specialists and a Validation Committee, in which the funders confirm the investment. In order to receive support, projects must focus on priority municipalities in the North and Northeast regions and aim to benefit public health actions and services within the Brazilian Unified Health System.

To learn more about the selection of new projects, click here.

On its first year, five supporters joined Together for Health – Dinamo Institute, RaiaDrogasil Group, Umane, Vale Foundation, and Wheaton. Over 2024, other organizatons shall join, to meet the fundraising goal (learn how to join here). Three wide-ranging also started to be implemented, and together they aim to reach nearly 300 municipalities, improving management and service processes, access to technological tools, infrastructure and training for professionals. Learn more about them:

 

HEALTH CYCLE SOCIAL PROTECTION

This initiative by Cedaps and Vale Foundation aims to contribute to strengthening the Basic Care, expanding the capacity for diagnosis, planning, operationalization, monitoring and evaluation of services through shared work plans with public management, guided by the health needs of local populations.

It is currently present in 8 municipalities in the state of Pará and, through the partnership with the Together for Health, will be expanded to 24 municipalities in the stated of Maranhão. Wheaton Precious Metals, BNDES and IDIS are also involved in this partnership.

By 2026, it is estimated that the project will reach 396 Basic Health Units (UBS), 55 Social Assistance Reference Centers (CRAS) and an average of 5,000 professionals, focusing on social protection and promoting the individual and collective health of the population,

“The Together for Health Fund helps to enhance social investment in territories that require special attention to access to quality healthcare. Through the partnership, we were able to take the Social Protection Health Cycle to 32 municipalities where we already work with education projects in Pará and Maranhão. In partnership with municipal departments, we hope to collaborate in a structured way to improve public services and benefit the entire population.” expresses Pâmella De-Cnop, Executive Director of the Vale Foundation.

 

IMPULSO PREVINE

The project created by the non-profit organization ImpulsoGov is a digital solution that centralizes data, analysis and recommendations from the Federal Primary Care funding program on a platform, providing a dashboard to health managers.

The solution allows, for example, monitoring the performance of cervical cancer preventive examinations, available free of charge in the Unified Health System (SUS). With it, local managers of the municipalities served will be able to improve their strategies to prevent the disease, which records 17 thousand new cases annually, according to 2023 data from INCA.

It is also worth highlighting that the Impulso Previne platform works with other Primary Health Care indicators and offers free support to municipalities, in order to contribute to better management and monitoring of the health situation of local populations.

With the financial support of Dynamo Institute, Impulso Previne will invest in the expansion of solutions focused on developing a cytopathological exam indicator and providing access to 19 municipalities.

The resources coming from Umane will be directed to the development of a vaccine indicator, covering 240 municipalities.

 

MENTAL HEALTH INDICATORS PANEL

Created by ImpulsoGov in partnership with the Cactus Institute, a non-profit organization that aims to expand debate and care in disease prevention and mental health promotion, the project aims to expand access to data and simplified information for mental health managers. With financial support from RaiaDrogasil Group.

“There are no established standards to evaluate the quality of services offered by Psychosocial Care Networks and managers often do not have access to information such as the profile of people served in the municipal network, and which services they attend. Our objective with the Mental Health Indicators Platform is to facilitate access to reliable information for these professionals, assisting in decision-making and contributing to the improvement of mental health services”, says Daniela Krausz, Mental Health project manager at ImpulsoGov .