From Ceará to Brazil: A historical perspective and challenges of the Community Health Workers - An interview with Carlile Lavor

The pioneering experience of Health Agents (HA) has significantly reduced infant mortality and became a national reference, leading to the creation of the Community Health Workers Program (PACS) across the country and, subsequently, serving as the foundation for establishing the Family Health Program (PSF), currently known as the Family Health Strategy (ESF), consolidated as the main Primary Health Care model within the Unified Health System (SUS). Carlile Lavor, a Public Health physician who served as Secretary of Health of the State of Ceará in 1987, was responsible for establishing Health Agents and came to be popularly and affectionately known as the “father of the ACS”. In an interview granted to researcher Anya Vieira-Meyer, Lavor reflects on the historical trajectory and contemporary challenges of Community Health Workers (ACS) in Brazil.

Key words:
Community Health Worker; Public Health; Interview