RESUMO OBJETIVO: Descrever a evolução temporal da morbimortalidade por covid-19 e da cobertura vacinal no período da emergência sanitária no Brasil. MÉTODOS: Número de casos e óbitos por covid-19 foram extraídos do painel público do Ministério da Saúde, conforme semana epidemiológica (SE) e região geográfica. Dados sobre vacinas e variantes foram obtidos, respectivamente, do Sistema de Informação do Programa Nacional de Imunizações e do Sistema de Vigilância Genômica do SARS-CoV-2. RESULTADOS: A evolução da pandemia de covid-19 caracterizou-se por três picos de óbitos: na 30ª semana epidemiológica de 2020, na 14ª de 2021 e na sexta de 2022; três ondas de casos, iniciando-se nas regiões Norte e Nordeste, com maiores taxas na terceira onda, principalmente na região Sul. A vacinação teve início na terceira semana epidemiológica de 2021, atingindo rapidamente a maior parte da população, particularmente nas regiões Sudeste e Sul, coincidindo com redução da taxa de mortalidade, mas não de morbidade na terceira onda. No total, 146.718 genomas foram sequenciados, mas somente a partir do início da segunda onda, na qual a variante dominante foi a Gama. A partir da última SE de 2021, quando a cobertura vacinal já se aproximava de 70%, a variante Ômicron causou uma avalanche de casos, porém com menos óbitos. CONCLUSÕES: É nítida a presença de três ondas de covid-19, bem como o efeito da imunização na redução da mortalidade na segunda e na terceira ondas, atribuídas às variantes Delta e Ômicron, respectivamente. Contudo não houve efeito na redução da morbidade, que atingiu o pico na terceira onda, na qual dominou a variante Ômicron. O comando nacional e centralizado do enfrentamento à pandemia não ocorreu; assim, os gestores locais assumiram a liderança em seus territórios. O efeito avassalador da pandemia poderia ter sido minimizado, caso houvesse a participação coordenada das três esferas de governo no SUS.

To examine the association between Brazil's Bolsa Familia programme (BFP), which is the world's largest conditional cash transfer programme, and the anthropometric indicators of nutritional status in children. Using the opportunity provided by vaccination campaigns, the Brazilian government promotes Health and Nutrition Days to estimate the prevalence of anthropometric deficits in children. Data collected in 2005-2006 for 22 375 impoverished children under 5 years of age were employed to estimate nutritional outcomes among recipients of Bolsa Família. All variables under study, namely child birth weight, lack of birth certificate, educational level and gender of family head, access to piped water and electricity, height for age, weight for age and weight for height, were converted into binary variables for regression analysis. Children from families exposed to the BFP were 26% more likely to have normal height for age than those from non-exposed families; this difference also applied to weight for age. No statistically significant deficit in weight for height was found. Stratification by age group revealed 19% and 41% higher odds of having normal height for age at 12-35 and 36-59 months of age, respectively, in children receiving Bolsa Familia, and no difference at 0-11 months of age. The BFP can lead to better nutritional outcomes in children 12 to 59 months of age. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.

O Programa Mais Médicos objetiva diminuir a carência de médicos e reduzir as desigualdades regionais em saúde e envolve três frentes estratégicas: i) i) mais vagas e novos cursos de Medicina baseados em Diretrizes Curriculares revisadas; ii) investimentos na construção de Unidades Básicas de Saúde;iii) provimento de médicos brasileiros e estrangeiros. O programa efetuou, até julho de 2014, o provimento de 14.462 médicos em 3.785 municípios com áreas de vulnerabilidade. Evidências indicam redução em 53% no número de municípios com escassez de médicos; na região Norte 91% dos municípios que apresentavam escassez foram atendidos, com quase cinco médicos cada, em média. A integração dos profissionais nas Equipes de Saúde da Família fortaleceu e expandiu a capacidade de intervenção, especialmente na perspectiva da adoção de um modelo de atenção que englobe as diferentes demandas de promoção da saúde, prevenção, diagnóstico e tratamento de doenças e agravos, para enfrentar o desafio da dupla carga de doença. Prevalecem na população a obesidade e doenças crônicas não transmissíveis, lado a lado com as enfermidades infecciosas, parasitárias e carências nutricionais remanescentes. O povo das cidades, do campo e da floresta quer mais médicos e mais perspectivas de saúde e de justiça social.

To evaluate the implementation of a programme to provide primary care physicians for remote and deprived populations in Brazil. The Mais Médicos (More Doctors) programme was launched in July 2013 with public calls to recruit physicians for priority areas. Other strategies were to increase primary care infrastructure investments and to provide more places at medical schools. We conducted a quasi-experimental, before-and-after evaluation of the implementation of the programme in 1708 municipalities with populations living in extreme poverty and in remote border areas. We compared physician density, primary care coverage and avoidable hospitalizations in municipalities enrolled (n = 1450) and not enrolled (n = 258) in the programme. Data extracted from health information systems and Ministry of Health publications were analysed. By September 2015, 4917 physicians had been added to the 16 524 physicians already in place in municipalities with remote and deprived populations. The number of municipalities with ≥ 1.0 physician per 1000 inhabitants doubled from 163 in 2013 to 348 in 2015. Primary care coverage in enrolled municipalities (based on 3000 inhabitants per primary care team) increased from 77.9% in 2012 to 86.3% in 2015. Avoidable hospitalizations in enrolled municipalities decreased from 44.9% in 2012 to 41.2% in 2015, but remained unchanged in control municipalities. We also documented higher infrastructure investments in enrolled municipalities and an increase in the number of medical school places over the study period. Other countries having shortages of physicians could benefit from the lessons of Brazil's programme towards achieving universal right to health.

Obesity is a global public health problem and a risk factor for several diseases that financially impact healthcare systems. To estimate the direct costs attributable to obesity (body mass index {BMI} ≥ 30 kg/m²) and morbid obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m²) in adults aged ≥ 20 incurred by the Brazilian public health system in 2011. Public hospitals and outpatient care. A cost-of-illness method was adopted using a top-down approach based on prevalence. The proportion of the cost of each obesity-associated comorbidity was calculated and obesity prevalence was used to calculate attributable risk. Direct healthcare cost data (inpatient care, bariatric surgery, outpatient care, medications and diagnostic procedures) were extracted from the Ministry of Health information systems, available on the web. Direct costs attributable to obesity totaled US$ 269.6 million (1.86% of all expenditures on medium- and high-complexity health care). The cost of morbid obesity accounted for 23.8% (US$ 64.2 million) of all obesity-related costs despite being 18 times less prevalent than obesity. Bariatric surgery costs in Brazil totaled US$ 17.4 million in 2011. The cost of morbid obesity in women was five times higher than it was in men. The cost of morbid obesity was found to be proportionally higher than the cost of obesity. If the current epidemic were not reversed, the prevalence of obesity in Brazil will increase gradually in the coming years, as well as its costs, having serious implications for the financial sustainability of the Brazilian public health system.