Equidade na utilização dos serviços de saúde no Brasil: um estudo comparativo entre as regiões brasileiras no período 1998-2008

Brazil presents severe socioeconomic inequalities among regions and individuals. Several studies analyze the determinants of these inequalities and its effects on social welfare indicators, such as health. This paper measures the socioeconomic inequalities in healthcare utilization in Brazil and in Brazilian regions over the period 1998-2008, using the Brazilian household survey, Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios (PNAD). Health concentration curves and indexes – CC and CI – were estimated. This methodology takes into account differences throughout the income distribution. The results show a consistent improvement during the period. These improvements were largest among individuals without health insurance, suggesting an improvement at Brazilian Health System (SUS) services. The estimation of CC and IC suggests a small magnitude of inequality in outpatient and hospital services. The dental service is the only one, among the healthcare utilization variables, with relevant magnitude of inequality favoring of the richest groups. The analysis of healthcare access suggests the presence of constrained demand more concentrated among the poorest groups, especially for the population without health insurance. This study moves forward in the health equity literature since it analyzes equity at SUS in the last ten years considering differences among socioeconomic groups and Brazilian regions.Healthcare inequalities. Brazilian Health System. Brazilian regions.

Desigualdade socioeconômica no acesso aos serviços de saúde no Brasil: um estudo comparativo entre as regiões brasileiras em 1998 e 2008

This paper measures inequalities in healthcare access in Brazil and each region in 1998 and 2008. The analysis controls for predisposing, enabling and need factors. The results show an increase of utilization rates and reduction of inequalities in primary care, especially among uninsured individuals, which suggest an improvement in the public health sector. The exception is the utilization of dentistry visits that still presents high social inequality and higher utilization rates among insured individuals. Regarding the variable "difficulty of access" results showed pro-rich inequality. After controlling for health insurance coverage, this inequality decreases in a great amount.Este artigo mensura a desigualdade socioeconômica no acesso aos serviços de saúde no Brasil e regiões, em 1998 e 2008. A análise controla por fatores predisponentes, capacitantes e de necessidade. Os resultados mostram um aumento das taxas de utilização e redução das desigualdades no cuidado primário, especialmente entre indivíduos sem plano sugerindo melhora nos serviços públicos. A exceção é a utilização de serviços odontológicos, que ainda apresenta desigualdade elevada e maior utilização entre indivíduos com plano. Para o indicador de problema de acesso, observa-se ainda desigualdade favorável aos ricos. Ao controlar para plano de saúde, essa desigualdade se reduz consideravelmente

A equidade na cobertura da Estratégia Saúde da Família em Minas Gerais, Brasil

A Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) tem papel relevante na prevenção e no acompanhamento das famílias no Sistema Único de Saúde. O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar a equidade na cobertura desses serviços ofertados na área urbana de Minas Gerais, Brasil. A pesquisa analisa diversos marcadores considerando quatro grupos-alvo: mulheres, gestantes, crianças e idosos, sendo representativa por macrorregião de saúde. Foram investigados em 2012, 6.797 domicílios, sendo entrevistados 5.820 mulheres, 1.758 crianças e 3.629 idosos. Para analisar a equidade, foram construídas taxas de cobertura da ESF por classe de riqueza e estimados índices e curvas de concentração. Os resultados revelam que a ESF é uma política equitativa. Os indicadores mostram que os domicílios mais pobres apresentam maiores taxas de visitação da ESF. Considerando a população residente nas áreas adscritas às equipes de saúde, o nível de cobertura é bastante elevado: 88% da população investigada receberam pelo menos uma visita dos profissionais da ESF nos últimos 12 meses, o que resulta em índices de concentração perto de zero

Societal Preferences for EQ-5D Health States from a Brazilian Population Survey

AbstractObjectiveTo elicit preference weights for a subset of EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D) questionnaire health states from a representative sample for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, using a time trade-off (TTO) method and to analyze these data so as to estimate social preference weights for the complete set of 243 states.MethodsData came from a valuation study with 3362 literate individuals aged between 18 and 64 years living in urban areas. The present study was based on quota sampling by age and sex. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in participants’ own homes. A total of 99 EQ-5D questionnaire health states were selected, presorted into 26 blocks of six unique health states. Each participant valued one block together with the full health, worst health, and dead states. Each health state was evaluated by more than 100 individuals. TTO data were modeled at both individual and aggregate levels by using ordinary least squares and random effects methods.ResultsValues estimated by different models yielded very similar results with satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics: the mean absolute error was around 0.03 and fewer than 25% of the states had a mean absolute error greater than 0.05. Dummies coefficients for each level within the EQ-5D questionnaire dimensions of health displayed an internally consistent ordering, with the mobility dimension demonstrating the largest value decrement. The values of mean observed transformed TTO values range from 0.869 to−0.235.ConclusionsThe study demonstrates the feasibility of conducting face-to-face interviews using TTO in a Brazilian population setting. The estimated values for EQ-5D questionnaire health states based on this Minas Gerais survey represent an important first step in establishing national Brazilian social preference weights for the EQ-5D questionnaire

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora