Objective:

To provide an overview of the distribution of institutional support in primary care in Brazil and to identify associations between the activities of institutional support and the outcome of the certification of the National Programme for Improving Access and Quality in Primary Health Care (PMAQ).

Materials and methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted through interviews with 16 960 professionals in Brazil in 2012.To examine the relationship between the received support and the quality of health care it was made a multiple binary logistic regression.

Results:

A positive relationship between high-level support and certification in the sub-dimensions analyzed was observed: women and child care, diabetes mellitus/ hypertension and mental health.The support activities which contributed most were: self-assessment, shared assessment, targeted workshops and training.

Conclusion:

Institutional support activities have helped to improve the quality and access of the population to healthcare in the country.