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https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/1330
STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING THE MONITORING OF VITAL EVENTS IN BRAZIL
Szwarcwald, Celia Landmann | Date Issued:
2008
Author
Affilliation
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
Abstract
Background In view of the limitations of survey-based demographic techniques for
infant mortality estimation, the current strategy of some developing
countries is to improve vital information. This article presents recent
progress in the improvement of national databases in Brazil.
Methods For the vital information analysis, the data sources are the
Mortality Information System and the Live Birth Information
System. The adequacy analysis is based on five indicators calculated
at the municipality level per 3-year period. Adequacy criteria are
established by means of the indicator percentile distributions
among Brazilian municipalities. To complement the vital data
analysis, in 2001, a proactive search of infant deaths was carried
out in selected areas of the North and North-east with very
deficient information.
Results Temporal trends of the adequacy indicators indicate advances in
both information systems. In 2003–05, 80.3% of municipalities
(87.3% population) have adequate live birth data and 63.6% of
municipalities (77.9% population) have a satisfactory level of mortality
information. The most important problem refers to deaths
with undetermined causes, mainly in the North-east. The proactive
search of infant deaths showed large deficiencies of vital information
in areas of extreme poverty: from 520 infant deaths found in
the study, only 175 (33.7%) were reported to the Mortality
Information System.
Conclusions The monitoring of vital events is an essential step in the process of
reducing infant mortality. The analysis of local irregularities not
only improves the quality of vital data registration, making possible
to estimate the infant mortality rate, but also identifies priority
areas for intervention.
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