[Health policies in Brazil in the 2000s: the national priority agenda]

This article analyzes Brazilian national health priorities from 2003 to 2008 under the Lula Administration. The study included a literature review, document analysis, and interviews with Federal health administrators. Four priorities were identified on the national health agenda: the Family Health Program, Smiling Brazil, Mobile Emergency Services, and the Popular Pharmacy Program. The first is a policy with high institutional density launched by the previous Administration, constituting an example of path dependence. The other three are innovations in areas where there had been weaknesses in Federal government action. The four policy priorities are strategies focused on solving key problems in the Brazilian health system. However, they display important differences in their historical development, political and institutional base, inclusion on the Federal agenda, and implications for the principles of the Unified National Health System. Although incremental changes have been introduced, national health policy has been characterized predominantly by continuity.