Critical analysis of policies and strategies to combat the Zika virus in Brazil: using the WPR approach.

Exploring narratives present in public policies to control the Zika virus becomes fundamental, given the possibility of new epidemic waves and their harmful effects. The objective of this study was to critically analyze the documents guiding the fight against the Zika virus, implemented by the Brazilian government, from 2016 to 2022. This is a qualitative, exploratory, documentary and analytical study, using the What's The Problem Represented approach (WPR). Three categories emerged from the analysis: (I) Representation of the problem: biomedical and technical narrative in the health-disease process; (II) Solutions, political options and their effects on the operationalization of actions and on the lives of children and mothers and; (III) The silence and neglect of policies in the effectiveness of actions: low integration between information systems and low focus on structural and collective actions, limited access to care technologies of greater complexity and cost for children with congenital syndrome associated with Zika virus infection; limited support network for family groups made up of black women, with low income and little education. The analysis highlights a set of policy options that have contextual and epidemiological relevance, but that make vulnerable populations invisible.