Diana Oya Sawyer

Perfis de utilização de serviços de saúde no Brasil

Servicos de saude devem responder as demandas populacionais que resultam da conjugacao de fatores sociais, individuais e culturais. Para isso, faz-se necessario o conhecimento do padrao de consumo de servicos de saude. Neste artigo, quatro perfis de consumo de saude foram gerados a partir da aplicacao da tecnica do Grade of Membership (GoM). O modelo teorico de utilizacao de servicos de saude proposto por Andersen serviu como marco de referencia da analise, permitindo que estimativas da demanda por servicos de saude fossem feitas segundo niveis altos e baixos de capacitacao, necessidade e predisposicao para o consumo. Ressalta-se que especial atencao deve ser dada ao grupo de alta necessidade e predisposicao, e baixa capacitacao, que representa 14% da populacao brasileira acima de 14 anos de idade (exceto a regiao Norte) e e composto, predominantemente, por idosos que moram sozinhos e tem alta necessidade de servicos especializados.

Malaria rates and fate: A socioeconomic study of malaria in Brazil

This paper examines behavioural risk factors for malaria in the Machadinho resettlement area in the Amazonian forests of Brazil. Analysis suggests that economic status and knowledge of the importance and behaviour of the mosquito in transmitting malaria are significant factors in determining prevalence risk, irrespective of whether preventive precautions (DDT spraying of houses, and clearing vector breeding sites) are undertaken in the endemic area. However, a higher economic status combined with better knowledge of the vector and DDT spraying decreases the risks of infection considerably. The results suggest that economic status--which is not easily subject to intervention--plays a more important role in transmission than is normally suspected, although preventive actions diminish the disease burden significantly. One might conclude that the landless and impoverished migrants who seek income, and independence in the jungle are destined to have malaria as one of their many burdens. A more positive implication is that control programmes must work harder and more intensively on behalf of poorer migrants in order to diminish the disease burden for these groups.

Heterogeneity of malaria prevalence in alluvial gold mining areas in Northern Mato Grosso State, Brazil

This paper analyzes factors affecting the risk of malaria among individuals working in wildcat gold mining camps (garimpos) in northern Mato Grosso State in the Brazilian Amazon. Historically, such mining camps have the locations with the highest malaria prevalence in the Brazilian Amazon. However, little attention has focused on understanding the disease from the internal perspective of the mining camps themselves, such as the mining populations characteristics and its spatial organization. This paper adopts a stepwise logistic model to identify spatial, occupational-exposure, and cultural factors that affect malaria prevalence. According to the results, differences among individuals working and/or living in the gold mining areas could produce different exposure to the disease and thus to different risk of malaria prevalence. Understanding these differences may provide an important tool for identifying risk profiles in the gold mining and related population and for informing programs for prevention and treatment of malaria in the Amazon.

O que os dados de mortalidade do Censo de 2010 podem nos dizer

The Brazilian Census of 2010 included in its survey a question on the deaths occurring in the household in the past 12 months. Previously, a similar question was included in the sample of the 1980 census, but has been rarely used. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the quality of mortality data from the Census, especially in regards to mortality age structure. The coverage of deaths went from 40% in 1980 Census to 80% in 2010 Census. The results show that, in Brazil, the quality of information is quite high both in level and in the pattern of mortality curves obtained. A more important restriction exists for groups of more advanced age.

Migration bias in indirect estimates of regional childhood mortality levels

Demographers often use Brass-style indirect methods to obtain childhood mortality estimates for regions within developing countries. Regional populations are not closed to migration, however, and mortality reports of women resident in a certain region on the survey date may contain information on events and exposure that occurred elsewhere as the mother migrated. Including this “imported”; mortality information may cause significant bias in regional estimates. In this paper the authors: (1) investigate the possible magnitude of migration bias using a multiregional simulation model, (2) propose a modification to standard methods which should reduce bias in many circumstances, and (3) apply the modified technique to data from Brazils 1980 Census. We find that migration bias can indeed be significant, and that in the specific case of Sao Paulo state, imported mortality information may result in overestimates of local mortality levels of 10-15% when using Brass-style methods.

O ensino da demografia e a formação de demógrafos no Brasil

This article consists of a description of the main teaching activities of demography in Brazil, and also deals with benchmarks regarding curricula and institutional arrangements. The teaching of demography in the country brings together several different modalities, from formal graduate courses in universities to short informative courses for local political administration personnel. Abep has played an important role in the process by promoting inter-institutional cooperation and enhancing the spread of demography to the various regions in Brazil. New forms of institutional arrangements and technologies have been suggested to decentralize this type of education in a way that will maximize human resources in the most needy regions.

What can the mortality data from the 2010 Census tell us

The Brazilian Census of 2010 included in its survey a question on the deaths occurring in the household in the past 12 months. Previously, a similar question was included in the sample of the 1980 census, but has been rarely used. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the quality of mortality data from the Census, especially in regards to mortality age structure. The coverage of deaths went from 40% in 1980 Census to 80% in 2010 Census. The results show that, in Brazil, the quality of information is quite high both in level and in the pattern of mortality curves obtained. A more important restriction exists for groups of more advanced age.

Método de estimação de grau de cobertura em pequenas áreas: uma aplicação nas microrregiões mineiras

This article aims to present a simple methodology to estimate the coverage of registration of deaths and obtain estimates of mortality for small areas, using the example of Minas Gerais. The proposed methodology combines the structure of indirect standardization of mortality of smaller areas based on the functions of mortality of larger areas and then applying the methods of distribution of deaths for more robust estimates of mortality for smaller areas. The results are robust and suitable compared to government estimates, and using other methods. The estimates produced using the two stages procedure, were robust and reduced cases of over- registration of deaths counts and improved estimates of adult mortality in some areas where data are less reliable.

Qué pueden decirnos los datos sobre mortalidad en el Censo de 2010

The Brazilian Census of 2010 included in its survey a question on the deaths occurring in the household in the past 12 months. Previously, a similar question was included in the sample of the 1980 census, but has been rarely used. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the quality of mortality data from the Census, especially in regards to mortality age structure. The coverage of deaths went from 40% in 1980 Census to 80% in 2010 Census. The results show that, in Brazil, the quality of information is quite high both in level and in the pattern of mortality curves obtained. A more important restriction exists for groups of more advanced age.

Tipología de los establecimientos escolares brasileños

The main objective of this article is to develop a typology of Brazilian schools using a broad set of information, such as school size, infrastructure, quality of educational offer, and many others. The typology is based on the establishment of extreme profiles of schools, clustering them by similar characteristics. School efficiency was also investigated, in order to observe its distribution according to the extreme profiles. The typology of the schools indicated three extreme profiles. The first profile is of schools with inadequate infrastructure and poor efficiency indicators, the second refers to large schools with high infrastructural level and good efficiency indicators. The third profile is at an intermediate range between the first and second. One cause for concern is that most Brazilian schools are classified in the category of having precarious infrastructures, which are worse in some regions than in others.