Evaluation of the impact of the Family Health Program on infant mortality in Brazil, 1990–2002

Authors:
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Objective: To use publicly available secondary data to assess the impact of Brazil’s Family Health Program on state level infant mortality rates (IMR) during the 1990s. Design: Longitudinal ecological analysis using panel data from secondary sources. Analyses controlled for state level measures of access to clean water and sanitation, average income, women’s literacy and fertility, physicians and nurses per 10 000 population, and hospital beds per 1000 population. Additional analyses controlled for immunisation coverage and tested interactions between Family Health Program and proportionate mortality from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Setting: 13 years (1990–2002) of data from 27 Brazilian states. Main results: From 1990 to 2002 IMR declined from 49.7 to 28.9 per 1000 live births. During the same period average Family Health Program coverage increased from 0% to 36%. A 10% increase in Family Health Program coverage was associated with a 4.5% decrease in IMR, controlling for all other health determinants (pConclusions: The Family Health Program is associated with reduced IMR, suggesting it is an important, although not unique, contributor to declining infant mortality in Brazil. Existing secondary datasets provide an important tool for evaluation of the effectiveness of health services in Brazil.

This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit: