Employment and sociodemographic characteristics: a study of increasing precarity in the health districts of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fundamental importance of human resources for the development of health care systems is recognized the world over. Health districts, which constitute the middle level of the municipal health care system in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, deal with demands from all parts of the system. This research seeks to provide the essential features required in order to understand the phenomenon of increase in precarity of employment in these health districts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The legal and human resource management documents used by the Municipal Health Secretariat of the City of Belo Horizonte were adopted as the corpus for this research. In order to analyse the changes in employment (2002–2006), the data were collected from ArteRH, a computerized database dealing specifically with data related to human resources, which began operating in 2001. The workers were classified into permanent and non-permanent groups, and their contractual rights were described. Employment dynamics and changes were examined, concentrating on the incorporation of workers and on their social and employment rights during the period under study. The comparative data for the two groups obtained were presented in frequency distribution tables according to type of employment, sex, age group, level of education and wages from 2002 to 2006.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a clear difference between the permanent worker and non-permanent worker groups as regards existing guaranteed employment rights and social security. The increase in the number of non-permanent workers in the workforce, the growing proportion of older workers among the permanently employed and the real wage reductions during the period from 2002 to 2006 are indicative of the process of growing precarity of employment in the group studied.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is a plausible supposition that the demand for health reforms, along with the legal limits imposed on financial expenditure, gave rise to the new types of contract and the present employment situation in the health districts in Belo Horizonte.</p

A análise institucional e a saúde coletiva Institutional analysis and collective health

Na sua história recente, a saúde coletiva se institucionalizou na dupla dimensão: teórico-prática e político-ideológica. Sendo a análise institucional uma abordagem que busca a transformação das instituições a partir das práticas e discursos dos seus sujeitos, pode-se dizer que há grande potencialidade para o crescimento da utilização do seu instrumental na saúde coletiva, considerando as dimensões da pesquisa, da intervenção e da formação dos profissionais. A tudo isso acrescenta-se a análise da própria saúde coletiva como uma instituição complexa, contraditória, sendo ela mesma atravessada por inúmeras instituições.<br>In its recent history, collective health has become institutionalized in a double dimension, the theoretical-practical and the political-ideological. Institutional analysis, on the other hand, is an approach aimed at changing institutions on the basis of the practices and discourses of their subjects. For this reason, there is clear potential for more widespread use of institutional analysis in collective health in the areas of research, interventions, and the training of professionals. Collective health itself can also be analyzed as a complex and contradictory institution, since it in turn involves countless other institutions

Interferência de plantas daninhas no cultivo da melancia Weeds interference periods in watermelon crop

A cultura da melancia é uma atividade explorada regionalmente, sendo uma das mais importantes fontes de renda familiar de pequenos municípios do médio Paranapanema, onde mudanças significativas no processo produtivo são atualmente constatadas, passando de mão-de-obra intensiva para uso de tecnologias promissoras, como é o caso do manejo de plantas daninhas. Um experimento foi conduzido no município de Oscar Bressani (SP), em área de produção comercial, com objetivo de estudar a interferência de plantas daninhas, no cultivo da melancia, na safra 2002/2003. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi de blocos ao acaso com dez tratamentos e quatro repetições, representadas por parcelas com área útil de 18 m², contendo quatro plantas de melancia e infestação prevalecente das espécies Sidaspp, Brachiaria humidicola, Commelina benghalensise Portulaca oleracea. A infestação das plantas daninhas foi estimada através de amostragens aleatórias das parcelas utilizando-se quadro vazado de ferro com 0,5 m de lado. Os tratamentos constaram de testemunhas capinadas e sem capina e diferentes épocas de controle da infestação, de forma que a cultura foi mantida na presença ou ausência das plantas daninhas até 7; 14; 28; 56 e 63 dias após a sua emergência (DAE). A ocorrência do período inicial de convivência possível maior que o período final estabeleceu o Período Crítico de Prevenção da Interferência do 9º ao 13º dias (PCPI= 9-13 DAE). A redução média da produtividade em função da interferência das plantas daninhas durante todo o ciclo da melancia foi de 41,4%. As características diâmetro e espessura da casca dos frutos também foram influenciadas pela convivência com a infestação durante todo o ciclo com decréscimos, de 7,9% e 23,3%, respectivamente, em média, ao contrário do comprimento e diâmetro de ramas e do ºBrix da polpa dos frutos, onde não foram constatadas diferenças significativas.<br>Water melon crop is an agricultural activity explored regionally, representing one of the most important sources of family income in small cities of the Médio Paranapanema, São Paulo State, Brazil, where nowadays, significant changes in the yield process are verified, changing from intensive labor to the use of promising technologies, as weed management, for instance. An experiment was carried out at Oscar Bressane municipal district, São Paulo State, Brazil, to study the weed interference on watermelon cultivation, in 2002/2003. Statistical procedure was based on randomized blocks with ten treatments and four replications, represented by plots with useful area of 18 m², containing four water melon plants and infestation of Sidaspp, Brachiaria humidicola, Commelina benghalensisand Portulaca oleraceaspecies. Weed infestation was estimated through randomized samples from the plots, using an iron drained square with 0,5 m sides. Treatments consisted of checks with and without hand weeded and different periods of weeds control, so that, crop was sustained in weeds presence or absence up to 7; 14; 28; 56 and 63 days after emergency (DAE). Initial period occurrence of possible coexistence greater than the final period established the Critical Period of Interference Prevention from the 9th to the 13th days (CPIP = 9-13 DAE). The reduction in yield due to the weed interference during all water melon crop cycle was about 41,4%. The diameter and thickness of fruits peel were also influenced by the coexistence with weed infestation during all the crop cycle, with decreases of 7,9% and 23,3%, respectively, against the characteristics length and diameter of branch and ºBrix of fruits pulp, when significant differences were not observed