Abstract
BackgroundThis report presents the Brazilian experience on the elaboration of a matrix of children’s environmental health indicators to the Brazilian Health Surveillance System. This experience was part of a project with the financial support of the Ministry of Health of Brazil to develop appropriate indicators for identification, measuring, and monitoring of the environmental risk factors to the children’s health. MethodsThe methodology adopted for the development of the matrix of indicators of children’s environmental health to Brazil comprised 3 steps. In the first step, the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the Brazilian population, aged 0-14 years, were identified, according to the data available from the Ministry of Health. The second step consisted of the identification of the Brazilian public-access information systems, with available official data regarding environmental, health, and socioeconomic conditions. In the third step, a preliminary matrix was elaborated. Correlation analyses were done to determine the indicators that would constitute the final matrix. FindingsThe selected indicators allowed the identification and surveillance of cancer, injuries, adverse birth outcomes, diarrheic and respiratory diseases, associated with environmental risk factors, in the Brazilian child population. The existing Brazilian official information systems provided data with the necessary quality for the construction of children's environmental health indicators. Nevertheless, some official systems on health information presented limitations related to the data availability over the course of time and timeliness of data capture. Concerning the environmental information, the major limitation was accessibility. ConclusionsA matrix of indicators of children's environmental health to Brazil can come to contribute to the implementation of a surveillance system of children's exposure to environmental contaminants in Brazil.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental conditions are responsible for the deaths of approximately 3 million children aged 5 years worldwide per year
The Pan-American Health Organization has estimated that approximately 100,000 children younger than age 5 years die each year as a result of environmental hazards in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean
The organization of an indicators system that identifies the relationship between the children’s health and the exposure to environmental pollutants is fundamental to the achievement of these health surveillance actions.[7]
Summary
The methodology adopted for the development of the matrix of indicators of children’s environmental health to Brazil comprised 3 steps. The main causes of morbidity and mortality in the Brazilian population, aged 0-14 years, were identified, according to the data available from the Ministry of Health. The second step consisted of the identification of the Brazilian public-access information systems, with available official data regarding environmental, health, and socioeconomic conditions. The existing Brazilian official information systems provided data with the necessary quality for the construction of children’s environmental health indicators. CONCLUSIONSA matrix of indicators of children’s environmental health to Brazil can come to contribute to the implementation of a surveillance system of children’s exposure to environmental contaminants in Brazil.
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