COSEMS/RS - Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul

What COSEMS/RS - Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul does

COSEMS/RS (Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul) is a civil society organization founded in 1986 and headquartered in Porto Alegre, Brazil, that represents the 497 municipal health secretaries across the state of Rio Grande do Sul. It functions as the official state-level coordination body for decentralized municipal health management within Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS), and is formally affiliated with CONASEMS at the national level. Its primary constituents are the municipal secretaries themselves, who are responsible for administering primary healthcare, epidemiological surveillance, and health promotion in each of the state's municipalities.

The organization's core offerings include technical training programs, policy advocacy, knowledge dissemination through publications, and convening events such as the joint congress co-organized with CONASEMS. It has also developed programmatic responses to emerging public health priorities, including a dedicated climate crisis response program addressing the intersection of extreme environmental events and municipal health system resilience. Operational staffing is small (estimated 1–10 employees), pointing to a lean model that relies on member engagement and external partners — including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) — for execution capacity.

COSEMS/RS operates as a nonprofit membership association funded through contributions from municipal health secretariats, supplemented by grants and institutional partnerships. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The organization does not sell products or services commercially; rather, it provides collective representation, capacity building, and policy advocacy to its public-sector members. Its competitive position rests on its statutory role as the recognized state-level council and on nearly four decades of institutional continuity.

Name

COSEMS/RS - Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul

Legal name

Conselho das Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul

Website

https://cosemsrs.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

COSEMS/RS is a nonprofit civil society organization founded in 1986 and headquartered in Porto Alegre, representing 497 municipal health secretaries in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and providing coordination, technical training, and policy advocacy for the state public health system.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership contributions: COSEMS/RS is funded through membership fees from municipal health secretaries across Rio Grande do Sul's 497 municipalities, representing their collective interests in the unified health system (SUS).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COSEMS/RS is the official representative body of the 497 municipal health secretaries of Rio Grande do Sul, providing collective representation in state health policy bodies (SETEC, CIB/RS) and technical advisory services across all SUS domains. The organization delivers training, capacity building, and institutional support to municipal health managers, coordinates action across 30 regional health areas, and convenes the annual state congress jointly with CONASEMS.

Product overview

COSEMS/RS operates as a non-profit health policy coordination and advocacy organization representing the 497 municipal health secretaries of Rio Grande do Sul. The organization does not offer a unified technology product but provides a portfolio of programs and services including: the Mostra Teu SUS initiative for showcasing successful municipal health experiences; the Projeto Púrpura humanitarian program in partnership with UNFPA Brasil for sexual and reproductive rights in climate crises; the 12 Para Cuidar de Ti campaign for healthcare worker well-being; ImunizaSUS training workshops for vaccination strengthening; intersectoral formation programs on mental health and psychosocial care; and the annual COSEMS/RS Congress held jointly with CONASEMS. The organization also provides technical assistance through its Central de Atendimento ao Gestor and produces technical publications such as the 'O SUS que Queremos' document. Services are delivered through 30 regional representations across the state.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mostra teu SUS - RS: A showcase of successful experiences developed by municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul to recognize and disseminate innovative health practices.
• II Oficina ImunizaSUS
• Projeto Púrpura
• 12% Para Cuidar de Ti
• Central de Atendimento ao Gestor

Quantifiable outcome

• 35th Congress integrated with national CONASEMS congress, demonstrating scale of annual convening power
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNFPA BrasilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024UNFPA Brasil partnered with COSEMS/RS to implement the Projeto Púrpura, a humanitarian response to the climate crisis affecting Rio Grande do Sul. The project focuses on sexual and reproductive health rights for girls, women, and LGBTQIA+ populations in disaster-affected areas. COSEMS/RS serves as the implementing partner, leading activities directly in health units in Porto Alegre, Canoas, São Leopoldo, and Guaíba.
• CONASEMScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOSEMS/RS is the state-level counterpart of CONASEMS (Conselho Nacional de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde). The organizations collaborate on national health policy, with the 35th COSEMS/RS Congress held jointly with the XXXIX CONASEMS National Congress in Porto Alegre in July 2025.
• Boehringer IngelheimminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBoehringer Ingelheim promoted the event 'Entre o diagnóstico e o cuidado integral: a jornada do paciente com fibrose pulmonar' (Between diagnosis and integral care: the journey of the patient with pulmonary fibrosis). COSEMS/RS president Régis Fonseca participated as a speaker, contributing to knowledge exchange on pulmonary fibrosis care in the SUS system.
• Força Nacional do SUS (FN-SUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOSEMS/RS collaborated with FN-SUS on intersectoral training for mental health and psychosocial care in climate disaster contexts. Experts from FN-SUS including Débora Noal (psychologist) and Michele Eichelberger (regional coordinator) contributed to formations on disaster response and community engagement in health.
• Secretaria de Estado da Saúde do RScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOSEMS/RS works closely with the State Health Secretariat on joint initiatives including the Formação Ampliada Intersetorial on mental health, and participates in state-level deliberative bodies like SETEC and CIB/RS for health policy coordination.
• State Health Secretariat - Department of Primary Care and Health PoliciescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarilise Fraga de Souza, director of the Department of Primary Care and Health Policies at the State Health Secretariat, participated in the intersectoral training on mental health in climate crisis contexts, reinforcing coordination between state and municipal health systems.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• CONASEMS (Conselho Nacional de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde): National-level umbrella body for all municipal health secretariats in Brazil. COSEMS/RS is the RS state affiliate, and the organizations jointly hosted the 2025 congress, demonstrating parallel structure and overlapping representational function at a broader national scale.

Regional players

• NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials): U.S.-based association representing local health officials across counties and cities. Operates the closest international functional analog to COSEMS/RS — representation, training, advocacy, and convening for subnational health leaders — though geographically distinct.
• COSEMS/MG (Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde de Minas Gerais): State-level council of municipal health secretaries for Minas Gerais. Mirrors the COSEMS/RS mission of representing and supporting municipal health managers in SUS implementation, in a different Brazilian state.
• COSEMS/PR (Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Paraná): State-level council of municipal health secretaries for Paraná. Functionally parallel to COSEMS/RS, representing municipal health managers in another southern Brazilian state with comparable SUS coordination needs.
• COSEMS/SP (Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde de São Paulo): State-level council of municipal health secretaries for São Paulo. Operates the same representational, technical-support, and convening model as COSEMS/RS but for SP municipalities rather than RS, making it the most directly comparable functional peer.

Others

• CONASS (Conselho Nacional de Secretários de Saúde): National council representing state-level health secretaries in Brazil. Pairs with CONASEMS in federal health policy deliberation; COSEMS/RS engages state-level deliberation bodies (SETEC, CIB/RS) that link to CONASS, making it an adjacent institutional peer rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@COSEMSRioGrandedoSul
• Facebookfacebook.com/CosemsRS
• Instagraminstagram.com/cosemsrs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cosems-rs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about COSEMS/RS - Conselho de Secretarias Municipais de Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul