Abstract The objective was to identify the actions developed by the health systems of Brazil and Italy to face the pandemic caused by COVID19. This is an integrative literature review in the Web of Science, Scopus, Pubmed and Virtual Health Library databases, with the addition of the snowball technique, in July 2020. After collection, 48 publications constituted the sample. The actions of the health systems of the two countries to face the pandemic were grouped into the categories: Adequacy of the legal norms of the health system; Expansion and strengthening of the health system; Use of Information and Communication Technologies; Encouraging individual and collective measures to face the pandemic; and Limitations and challenges in facing the pandemic. The measures adopted are influenced by the political, economic and social contexts. There was a reorganization of the hospital network in both countries, but weaknesses are identified in the preventive actions developed by Primary Health Care, with a predominance of the biomedical model. Telemedicine stood out in this scenario and could last in the post-pandemic. The summary of actions will subsidize the confrontation of other pandemics that, eventually, the health systems of these and other countries may encounter.