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

BMC Womens Health

BACKGROUND: Violence against women remains an important issue of inequality in African societies, with several consequences to health, social and economic status. This study aims to identify the factors related to the perception of intimate partner violence in Benin. METHODS: Data on intimate partner violence was collected by conducting live interviews, and from the Benin Demographic and Health Survey 2012. The dependent variable was acceptance of intimate partner violence. The independent variables were socio-demographic features such as age, level of education, matrimonial status, ethnicity, religion, place of residence and the index of economic well-being. Logistic regressions were performed and odds ratios (OR) with a confidence interval of 95% (CI95%) were estimated. RESULTS: Among the 21,574 people who answered the questions relating to violence against women by an intimate partner, the prevalence of acceptance of intimate partner violence was 15.77%. Ethnicity, level of education, administrative department of residence, religion, and socio-economic quintile were factors associated with the respondents' acceptance of violence against women by an intimate partner. CONCLUSION: Acceptance of intimate partner violence could be a major obstacle to the success of some health programs. There is a need to break the norms that support the vulnerability of women in Beninese society

Securite alimentaire et commerce alimentaire dans les pays en developpement

* ref. * tables *Station d'Economie et Sociologie rurales ENSA 9 place Viala 34060 MONTPELLIER CEDEX (FRA) Diffusion du document : ref. tables Station d'Economie et Sociologie rurales ENSA 9 place Viala 34060 MONTPELLIER CEDEX (FRA)National audienceRapport etabli a la demande de la CNUCED, qui traite des points suivants: les tendance et aspects du commerce alimentaire des pays en developpement; les obstacles au developpement des exportations agro-alimentaires des pays en developpement; les politiques d'autosuffisance ou de securite alimentaire; les strategies d'exportation des produits transformes; la flexibilite du secteur prive face aux signaux du marche mondial. Dans une derniere partie sont degagees les perspectives pour les exportations des produits agro-alimentaires des pays en developpement. Une annexe statistique complete le rapport