The Brazilian health informatics and information policy: building the consensus.

This paper describes the construction of the Brazilian Health Information Policy. The Introduction gives an overview of the health informatics scenario in the country and the motivation for the definition of a national policy for the area. The process adopted and the strategies to reach consensus among the different players of the healthcare arena are discussed. The interface with the national health card project and the standards already established are also depicted. The current document and the strategies so far proposed are presented with their respective time table and goals. At the end, a comparison with other national initiatives is drawn.