COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE CONTEXT OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE IN BRAZIL: A NARRATIVE REVIEW (Atena Editora)

Abstract

COVID-19 established a pandemic framework and imposed the biggest health challenge of this generation¹. Community coping is one of the strongest strategies to fight the disease. In Brazil, Primary Health Care (PHC) remained the user's gateway to the Unified Health System, being the first, closest and most accessible place for patient care². For this, PHC dealt with existing demands and the new circulating disease, continuing its role of coordinating care and solving mild and moderate cases.1,2. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the new coronavirus pandemic in the context of primary health care. METHODS: This is a narrative literature review with research in the SciELO and PubMed databases using the descriptors "COVID-19", "Primary Health Care" and "Coping Strategies". Articles published from 2020 to 2022 were searche. RESULTS: The COVID-19 pandemic required adjustments in PHC. Therefore, telemedicine began to be implemented and became a strong ally2,3. Through the integrality attribute, primary and secondary prevention were carried out, essential to avoid overloading the system4. Finally, it is up to the PHC to assume a decisive role in light cases, in addition to the early identification and fast and correct referral of severe cases, maintaining the coordination of care. 4. CONCLUSION: PHC ensured the resolution of the vast majority of mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 and promoted population awareness and vaccination and disseminated prevention strategies 4,5. 1,2. OBJETIVO: Analisar a pandemia do novo coronavírus no contexto da atenção primária à saúde. MÉTODOS: Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa de literatura com pesquisa nas bases de dados SciELO e PubMed a partir dos descritores “COVID-19”, “Atenção Primária em Saúde” e “Estratégias de Enfrentamento”. Buscaram-se artigos publicados de 2020 a 2022. RESULTADOS: A pandemia da COVID-19 exigiu adequações na APS. Por isso, a telemedicina passou a ser implementada e tornou-se uma forte aliada2,3. Através do atributo da integralidade, realizou a prevenção primária e secundária, essenciais para evitar a sobrecarga do sistema4. Por fim, cabe à APS assumir papel resolutivo frente aos casos leves, além da identificação precoce e encaminhamento rápido e correto dos casos graves, mantendo a coordenação do cuidado4. CONCLUSÃO: A APS garantiu a resolutividade da grande maioria dos casos leves a moderados de COVID-19 e promoveu a conscientização e vacinação populacional e difundiu estratégias de prevenção4,5.