Before you start

CPF, for the Cartão Nacional de Saúde
Proof of address, which determines your Unidade de Saúde
Employer plan enrolment where offered
Vaccination record

Step-by-step

1
Register at the health unit covering your address
Take CPF and proof of address to the Unidade de Saúde da Família for your catchment. The Cartão Nacional de Saúde is free and links you to a family health team, to vaccination and to the free medicines list.
In personWho: YouFree
2
Take the standing vaccinations
Brazil's national schedule is free at any unit and includes yellow fever. Bring your existing record so gaps rather than duplicates get filled, and take the influenza vaccination when the seasonal campaign opens.
In personWho: YouFree
3
Treat mosquito control as household maintenance
Dengue, chikungunya and Zika are transmitted by Aedes aegypti, which breeds in small volumes of clean standing water in and around buildings. Screens, dry plant saucers and balconies, and repellent through the April–July wet season are the practical measures. Cooperate with the municipal agent when they knock.
In personWho: You
4
Avoid contact with flood water, and see a doctor if you could not
Leptospirosis is transmitted through water contaminated with rodent urine and follows urban flooding. If you have waded through flood water and then develop fever, muscle pain or jaundice within a fortnight, say so explicitly to the doctor — early treatment matters and the history is the diagnosis.
In personWho: You
5
Obey the bathing restrictions on the urban coast
State decree 21.402/1999 prohibits nautical activities along roughly 33 km from Olinda to Praia do Paiva, and Jaboatão restricts bathing on part of Piedade. Inside the reef at low tide is where people swim; past the reef line is where the incidents have happened. This is signposted, enforced and taken seriously by residents.
In personWho: You
6
Check the tier of your private plan against a specific hospital
A plano de saúde is a standard professional benefit here and the networks vary enormously. Real Hospital Português, Hospital Esperança and Hospital Santa Joana are among the names plans are measured against, alongside IMIP and the Hospital das Clínicas da UFPE on the public side. Ask which hospitals the specific tier admits you to, including the emergency department.
Via employerWho: YouCommonly BRL 400–1,300 per month for an adult individually

Documents you’ll need

CPF
Proof of Recife address
Passport or CRNM
Vaccination record
Private plan card and policy, where applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

The shark-incident record on Greater Recife's urban beaches is why the prohibitions exist.

Pernambuco's state monitoring committee, CEMIT, has recorded 84 incidents in the state since 1992, roughly 70 of them on the urban beaches of Greater Recife. That produced decree 21.402/1999 restricting nautical activity along about 33 km of coast, and a further municipal bathing ban on part of Piedade. Living on Boa Viagem is entirely normal; swimming past the reef line is the thing residents do not do, and newcomers should not treat the signs as decorative.

Source: CEMIT — Comitê Estadual de Monitoramento de Incidentes com Tubarões, and Decreto estadual 21.402/1999

Recife's hospital depth is regional, which cuts both ways.

Because the city is the referral centre for several Northeastern states, it has specialties and equipment a city of 1.6 million would not otherwise support — and its public emergency departments carry the load of that catchment. In practice that means excellent access to specialists and long waits in undifferentiated emergency care. Knowing which hospital your plan actually admits you to, before you need it, matters more here than in a smaller market.

Source: community-reported; verify network lists with ANS and the insurer

Leptospirosis follows flooding, and the exposure history is what gets you diagnosed.

In a city where streets flood in the wet season, wading is common and the risk is real. The illness starts as a non-specific fever and is easy to mistake for dengue, which is also circulating. Telling the doctor you walked through flood water in the past two weeks changes the differential immediately — it is the single most useful sentence you can say in that consultation.

Source: Ministério da Saúde — leptospirose guidance

SUS covers you regardless of immigration status, and the card costs nothing.

The Brazilian constitution frames health as a universal right and SUS units do not ask about visas. Foreign residents on private plans skip registration and then have no route to routine vaccinations, repeat prescriptions or the free medicines list. One visit with a CPF and a proof of address is the whole process.

Source: Ministério da Saúde

Common mistakes to avoid

Swimming past the reef line where nautical activity is prohibited by state decree.
Not registering for a Cartão SUS because you have private cover.
Choosing a private plan on premium alone without reading the hospital network.
Leaving standing water on a balcony through the April–July wet season.
Not mentioning contact with flood water when you present with a fever.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.