The SUS queue in Mato Grosso cannot continue condemning lives

As a Primary Health Care doctor for more than 20 years, I have known this reality long before entering the political debate. I served mothers desperate for a child's appointment, elderly people losing their quality of life waiting for an exam and patients with suspected serious illnesses experiencing the anguish of not knowing when they would be seen.

Every day I am contacted by people from the four corners of Mato Grosso reporting that they need a specialist consultation, a highly complex exam, an ICU bed or surgery. These are stories of suffering that reveal a system that failed to offer answers at a time when they were most needed.

This reality was also evident when visiting around 90 municipalities, listening to the population from all regions of the state. We found different demands, but one of them appeared practically unanimously: public health is today the biggest concern of Mato Grosso residents. The delay in regulation and the difficulty in accessing specialized services were recurring complaints.

The regulation queue has become one of the biggest public health dramas in Mato Grosso. And there is an aggravating factor that makes this situation even more cruel: citizens simply don't know where they are in the queue.

After leaving the health unit with a referral, it disappears within the system. You don't know how many people are in front of you, you don't know the service forecast and you start to live with insecurity. The wait is no longer just for a procedure but also for a response.

This needs to change.

It is fully possible to implement a digital system, accessible via cell phone or computer, so that each patient can monitor their position in the queue for appointments, exams and surgeries. Transparency does not solve all problems, but it restores dignity to citizens and allows them to know exactly what stage of the process they are at.

But it's not enough to show the queue. You have to make her walk.

In a state the size of Mato Grosso, telemedicine needs to stop being an exception and become public policy. A state teleconsultation network can bring specialists closer to those who live in the interior, reduce travel, speed up diagnoses and expand access to healthcare much more efficiently.

At the same time, it is essential to strengthen Primary Care. When the health center works well, many diseases are diagnosed early, patients are monitored correctly and fewer people have to wait a long time for specialized care. Investing in primary care means investing in prevention, network organization and quality of life.

Public health needs management, planning and technology.

It also needs commitment.

Health cannot live on end-of-term promises. Whoever administered Mato Grosso over the last eight years had enough time to modernize regulations, make queues transparent, expand telemedicine and strengthen basic care. If these solutions are recognized as necessary now, why weren't they implemented before? Citizens who have waited years for an appointment or lost a family member in the SUS queue cannot be treated as spectators of promises made when the lights go out.

The SUS queue is not just a list of names. It represents interrupted lives, delayed diagnoses and entire families living under the weight of uncertainty. In many cases, it represents people who could not resist the waiting time.

Mato Grosso can do different. It is possible to build more humane, more transparent and more efficient healthcare, using technology to benefit people, strengthening basic care and ensuring that geographical distance is never again a sentence for those in need of care.

Those who hope for health do not ask for privileges.

It demands a right guaranteed by the Constitution and, above all, respect for your life.

Dr. Natasha Slhessarenko is a doctor, businesswoman, professor at UFMT and has been working at the Grande Tercero health center in Cuiabá-MT for over 20 years.