Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major public health problem in many countries, including Brazil. Primary health care (PHC) services are a set of important services with infrastructure and resources to diagnose, treat, and cure several diseases, including the TB. The aim of this study is to analyse aspects of the facility infrastructure of Brazilian PHC, regarding the control and treatment of TB from a countrywide perspective. This is a cross-sectional study based on PHC services. Data were collected from 38,812 health centres and were assessed by means of the National Program for Improving Access and Quality Primary Care. The outcome was obtained by the presence and availability of the following infrastructure items: air circulation in the consultation room, refrigerator, individual protective equipment, plastic jar for sputum examination, and TB notification form of the primary care information system. Poisson regression was used to calculate the prevalence ratio. Of the 38,812 evaluated centres, only 1628 (4.2%) presented a positive result regarding the outcome. Primary health centres, among all types of centres, presented the highest quality of facility infrastructure for TB control. Centres with large workloads, as well as those that presented a list of offered services and a welcoming consulting room, also presented the highest quality infrastructure. The present study shows that major improvements should be made to the infrastructure to reach a satisfactory TB control in Brazil.
Highlights
Nowadays, the mortality, incidence, and prevalence rates of tuberculosis (TB) are all decreasing in the eastern Mediterranean and European regions faster than in South America
The rapid test, among others that can diagnose TB, is an important facility infrastructure that usually exists in regions and countries that have been following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) for TB control
This study can be characterized as a census of the Brazilian public Primary health care (PHC) services and of the infrastructure for TB control
Summary
The mortality, incidence, and prevalence rates of tuberculosis (TB) are all decreasing in the eastern Mediterranean and European regions faster than in South America. The rapid test, among others that can diagnose TB, is an important facility infrastructure that usually exists in regions and countries that have been following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) for TB control. Facility infrastructure is a major component of a health care system to control infectious diseases such as TB. Primary health care (PHC) services are a set of important services with infrastructure and resources to diagnose, treat, and cure several diseases, including the TB. Data were collected from 38,812 health centres and were assessed by means of the National Program for Improving Access and Quality Primary Care. Among all types of centres, presented the highest quality of facility infrastructure for TB control.
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