GEO Brasil - UNEP

In 1999, homicides ranked first in external causes, at a 262
rate for every 100,000 inhabitants, followed by car accidents,
registering a 1837 death rate (RIPSA, 2001) It is worth
mentioning that homicides committed in the countryside
due to land possession conflicts added up 1520 deaths
from 1980 to 2000 (Pasture Land Commission/Comissão
Pastoral da Terra-CPT, 2001) The figures also indicate that
accidents which occur at the workplace have become more
serious and the resulting deaths rose from 077% to 140%,
when compared to the total number of all registered
accidents from 1990 to 1996
Regarding regional differences, the 1998 external cause
mortality coefficients (for every 100,000 inhabitants) for the
Southeast (884) and Central West (806) surpass the average
Brazilian rate (727) The other regions present lower
coefficients: South (681), North (559) and Northeast (540)
It should be pointed out that all regions have experienced a
raise in these rates since 1980, revealing intrinsic conflicts
in our development and urbanisation processes in this
period (Tambellini et al, 2001)
Neoplasia corresponds to the third group of death causes
in all macroregions The mortality rates increased
approximately 10% in the 1990s The most relevant types
are: stomach, lung, breast, uterus and prostate gland cancer,
which represent 1192% of the properly defined registered
deaths in 1998 Cancer records in Brazil are not well
established in all regions Moreover, possible environmental
exposure to carcinogenic agents is not recorded as in
developed countries
Deaths resulting from respiratory problems represent the
fifth cause of mortality, with a total of 118% of all the properly
defined registered deaths The South and Southeast
numbers are higher than the national average (RIPSA 2001),
and in certain industrial areas this could be one of the most
important causes of death, as observed in the Cubatão
Petrochemical and Metallurgic Areas It should be stressed
that respiratory system diseases correspond to 1622% of
all hospitalisation in 2000, being the second among the
most common diseases (RIPSA, 2001) According to the
World Health Organisation (1998), acute and chronic
respiratory diseases are related to environmental exposure
in 50% to 60% of all cases
Infectious parasitical diseases represent the sixth cause of
death among the Brazilian population, corresponding to
524% of all properly defined deaths The South of Brazil is
the only region in which the occurrence of such cases is
significantly lower than the national average of 389% Several
infectious parasitical diseases occur due to the presence of
animal vectors and reservoirs of infectious agents which
are harmful to humans as a result of bad environmental
conditions due to anthropic actions, lack of sewerage,
unplanned land occupation and trespassing of natural
systems for the sake of production activities, such as
mining, timber and agriculture
In 1999, diseases related to inadequate environmental
sewerage (DRSAI) represented 295%of all deaths due to
infectious parasitical diseases, and their highest incidences
occurred in the Northeast (465%), and Central West (463%)
regions Most deaths are related to diarrhoea, which remains
a significant cause of death among children under five years
of age, even though these figures are clearly underestimated,
owing to notification problems in certain Brazilian states
(Costa et al, 2001)
Regarding morbidity, the available general data belong to
the following Information Systems:
National System of Epidemiological Surveillance
(Sistema Nacional de Vigilância Epidemiológica) for
diseases which require compulsory notification;
National System of Toxic-Pharmacological Information
(Sistema Nacional de Informação Tóxico-
Farmacológica - SINITOX);
Primary Assistance Information System (Sistema de
Informação de Atenção Básica) and Hospital
Information System (Sistema de Informação
Hospitalar) established in private institutions
associated with the public health system and
accounting for 75% of all hospital assistance provided
throughout the country (IBGE, 2001)
In 2000, approximately 636% of all hospitalisations caused
by infectious parasitical diseases were related to DRSAI
and the North and Northeast accounted for more than 70%
of them This was true mainly because of the high incidence
of hospitalisations owing to diarrhoea (Costa et al, 2001)
According to Sá, 1988, the main causes of hospitalisations
in all regions except for the South of Brazil, occurred during
the time period involving pregnancy, delivery and postpartum
(national average of 2389%) Respiratory causes
were also representative (national average of 15,81%),
the state of the environment in Brazil
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