Brazil – Health Statistics

Population: 194,946,470 (2010 estimate)

Life expectancy at birth: 72.79 years

Literacy rate: 88.6%

Brazil Health Statistics

  • According to the Non-communicable Diseases Country Profiles 2011 (WHO), NCDs accounted for 74% of all deaths in Brazil in 2008.
  • In 2008, a total of 893,900 people died of NCDs. Of all the NCD deaths 32.2% males and 28.7% females died below the age of 60.
  • The total number of NCD deaths were higher amongst men (474,000) than women (419,900).
  • Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) caused 33% of all NCD deaths.
  • The age-standardised death rate per 100,000 for CVDs and diabetes was 304.2 for males and 226.4 for females. For cancer the death rate was 136.3 (male) and 94.7 (female) while it was 53.6 (male) and 32.4 (female) for chronic respiratory diseases.
  • A major study of Brazil’s disease burden showed that chronic disorders accounted for 66% of DALYs.
  • Researchers estimate that between the developing economies of Brazil, India, China, South Africa, and Mexico, 21 million years of future productive life are lost each year because of cardiovascular disease.
  • Principal among the chronic disorders were neuropsychiatric disorders (19%), cardiovascular diseases (13%), chronic respiratory diseases (8%), cancers (6%), musculoskeletal diseases (6%), and diabetes (5%).
  • Conservative estimates by WHO for Brazil suggest that changes in key economic inputs, such as losses in the labour force and decreased savings resulting from just three NCDs (diabetes, heart disease, and stroke), will lead to a loss of economic output of US$4·18 billion between 2006 and 2015.
  • Premature deaths attributable to cardiovascular diseases, disproportionately affects poor people. In Porto Alegre, a large Brazilian city, premature deaths attributable to CVDs, defined as those in individuals aged 45–64 years, was 163% higher in neighbourhoods classified as being in the worst socio-economical quartile than in those classified in the best.
  • In 2007, 12.7% of all non-pregnancy related admissions to hospital and 27.4% of those for individuals aged 60 years or older were due to cardiovascular diseases.
  • Latest statistics provided by International Diabetes Federation estimated that Brazil is home to over 12.4 million diabetic patients with 121,082 deaths caused due to diabetes. (2011 estimate)
  • A national registry for diabetes and hypertension, SisHiperDia, was started in 2002. The burden associated with the disease is documented in the data of the more than 1.6 million cases of diabetes registered: 4.3% of those registered had a diabetic foot disorder and 2.2% a previous amputation, 7.8% had renal disease, 7.8% had a previous myocardial infarction, and 8.0% had a previous stroke.
  • In men, mortality rates of lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer are increasing, that of gastric cancer decreasing, and that of oesophageal cancer stable. In women, mortality rates of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers have risen, while those of cervical and gastric cancer have declined.
  • From 2003 to 2008, the frequency of women aged 25–59 years who reported at least one Pap smear over the previous 3 years rose by 25%, reaching 84.6% in 2008.

  • Oesophageal cancer rates, in men, are very high, approaching levels seen in Asian countries with the world’s highest incidence. Cervical cancer incidence in Brazil, overall, is still very high, with rates close to those of countries with the highest incidence: Peru and some African states. This finding is consistent with the very high prevalence (14–54%) of human papillomavirus in surveyed Brazilian women.

  • A recent survey of 8th grade children (i.e., children aged 14 years) who reside in state capitals, designed to capture the development of risk factors showed that, in 2009, 6.3% of the children surveyed reported smoking during the previous 30 days, which is more than the mean for the Americas (4.9%), but less than that of Europe (19%).
  • An estimated 25% of adults reported at least one problem of a social, occupational, familial, legal, or physical nature related to alcohol.
  • Exposure to alcohol begins early: a large survey of 8th grade students (mean age 14 years) in public and private schools of Brazilian state capitals showed that 71% had already experimented with alcohol and 27% had consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days.
  • Data from four large representative surveys of family food expenditure done in metropolitan areas of Brazil from the mid-1970s to the mid-2000s suggest a decline in the household purchase of basic traditional foods, such as rice, beans, and vegetables, and notable increases (up to 400%) in the purchase of processed foods, such as cookies and biscuits, soft drinks, processed meats, and ready meals.
  • From 1975 to 1989 the prevalence of adolescents who were overweight doubled for boys and girls and, from 1989 to 2003, more than doubled in boys, while increasing very little in girls.
  • Estimates from Vigitel show a continuing increase in obesity in adults from 2006 to 2009—from 11.4% to 13.9%.

References:

  1. NCDs Country Profile 2011 – WHO
  2. Schramm JM, Oliveira AF, Leite IC. Transição epidemiológica e o estudo de carga de doenças no Brasil. Cien Saude Coletiva 2004
  3. Bassanesi SL, Azambuja MI, Achutti A. Premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease and social inequalities in Porto Alegre: from evidence to action. Arq Bras Cardiol 2008
  4. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística. Indicadores Sociodemográfi cos e de Saúde no Brasil 2009.
  5. Estudos e Pesquisas Informação Demográfi ca e Socioeconômica, número 25. 2009.
  6. IDF Diabetes Atlas – International Diabetes Federation
  7. Doll R, Payne P, Waterhouse J. Cancer incidence in fi ve continents: a technical report. Berlin: Springer-Verlag (for UICC), 1966
  8. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística. Pesquisa nacional por amostra de domicílios (PNAD 2008), um panorama da Saúde no Brasil: acesso e utilização dos serviços, condições de saúde e fatores de risco e proteção à saúde. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2010
  9. Ayres A, Azevedo e Silva G. Revisão sistemática sobre estudos de prevalência de infecção por HPV no Brasil. Rev Saúde Pública (in press)
  10. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística. Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar 2009. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografi a e Estatística, 2009
  11. Warren CW, Jones NR, Peruga A, et al. Global youth tobacco surveillance, 2000–2007. MMWR Surveill Summ 2008
    Laranjeira R, Pinsky I, Sanches M, Zaleski M, Caetano R. Alcohol use patterns among Brazilian adults. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 2010
  12. Levy RB, Claro RM, Monteiro CA. Sugar and total energy content of household food purchases in Brazil. Public Health Nutr 2009
  13. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000
  14. Ministério da Saúde. Vigitel Brazil 2006–2009
  15. The Center for Global Health and Economic Development. A Race Against Time: The Challenge of Cardiovascular Disease in Developing Economies. 2004. The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York