Equality and its implications: A focus on access to health services

In this article, we seek to discuss one of the principles that compose the prevailing ethical-political orthodoxy, which is equality among all human beings. The highlight is on the theory of philosopher Peter Singer. The aim was to analyze whether access to health services in Brazil respects the ethical principles of equality and equity. Equality is the desired consequence of equity, being the latera starting point for the former. That is, it is only through the recognition of the differences and the diverse needs of the social subjects that equality can be achieved. Equity is one of the themes that is very present in debates on the reforms of health systems in Brazil and worldwide. Several issues are part of these discussions, since they cover different aspects of the reality of the population's access to health services. One example is the judicialization of health, which will be also discussed in this article, verifying if this means violates the principle of equity proposed by the SUS.