Demographic profile and health conditions of the elderly in a community in an urban area of Southeastern Brazil

Some specific characteristics of the aging of the Brazilian population in different areas, states and communities all over the country, have shown significant variations. Historical series of demographic and health indicators for the population in their sixties and over in Brazil, state of S. Paulo and in the municipal district of Araraquara are listed as follows: level of education and urban population growth rate, income distribution, mortality rates and main causes of death. In 1991 the aged constituled were 7,8% of the Brazilian population and 9,7% in Araraquara community. The elderly population (of 70 years of aged and above) as a proportion of the whole, has increased and already stands for 40%. The same trend holds good for both the proportion of aged within the urban population and their level of education wich increased to 90% in 1991. The main causes of death are chronic degenerative diseases which have replaced the infectious illness: firts, the diseases of the circulatory sistem (which account for more than 40% of all deaths) and the neoplasms (which let to 15% of the deaths). On the basis of these health and demographic data relating to people of 60 years of age and over, this study suggests some procedures for the improvement of the quality of the assistance given to the target population: a) the assistance give to the aged should be improved by providing gerontological training for general physicians and nurses, both of public and private clinics; b) the already exixting educational activities for the aged, for health workers and for teachers of secundary education should be further developed; c) the number of day-hospitals should be increased for the purpose of avoiding unnecessary confinement so as maintain the low rate of institutionalization in homes for the elderly (0,7% in Araraquara). It is reported that at least 35% of the aged population in this area is entitled to private health assistance, wich brings out the importance of including such services in the local health programs for this group.

Investimento direto externo, acumulação de capital produtivo e distribuição de renda: uma abordagem pós-keynesiana

It is developed a macrodynamic model in the post-keynesian tradition of political economy of the productive capital accumulation and income distribution to analyze some of the impacts of the (flow of) foreign direct investment and the (stock of) foreign productive capital on capital accumulation, economic growth and functional income distribution in a stylized economy. Alongside a usual demand effect, the impacts of such an internationalization of local capital through labor productivity and market concentration are taken into account as well.

The debt crisis: a re-appraisal

The 1980s' debt crisis is a landmark in developing economies' growth and stabilization. According to the most quoted empirical articles, external shocks and vicissitudes gave rise to crisis just because of delays in stabilization policies, engendered by internal conflicts and institutional immaturity. I review some of these papers, and find out some problems - in the measurement of shocks and foreign indebtedness, namely - whose corrections lead to opposite results: external shocks and foreign indebtedness explain that crisis regardless of domestic policies. At the same time, the strong correlation of income distribution to terms of trade changes and foreign indebtedness suggest that inequality may have contributed differently to that crisis: either through an economic channel, or through a political channel based on delays in reforms.

Posicionamento social e a hipótese da distribuição de renda desconhecida. Brasil: quão pobres, quão ricos e quão desiguais nos percebemos?

Based on the ISSP (1999) survey the aim of the present paper is to provide an empirical description about the perceptions Brazilians have towards their own social positioing in the social scale and towards the country’s income distribution. Throughout this description, the paper gives support for the hypothesis that Brazilians do not recognize the form of the country’s income distribution and its high degree of inequality. Also, we present a brief discussion on the causes and consequences of this knowledge gap.

Salários, produtividade e lucros na indústria brasileira, 1945-1978

Wages, productivity and profits in the Brazilian manufacturing industry, 1945-1978. This article investigates the distribution between profits and wages in Brazil's manufacturing industry from 1945 to 1978. First, the article provides yearly series of average real wages and labour productivity, from which labour unit costs and the distribution between profits and wages in the manufacturing industry are estimated. Second, the article addresses the behaviour of wages, labour productivity and industrial income distribution in the context of variable economic, political and institutional conditions which prevailed in post-war Brazil. The results of the quantitative analysis allow us to assess both the trends and the yearly behaviour of the manufacturing income distribution during a key period of the Brazilian economic history.

O ritmo na queda da desigualdade no Brasil é aceitável?

The rhythm in the fall of inequality in Brazil is acceptable? Evidences of the historical and international context. The following study uses two approaches to answer the question of whether inequality in Brazil is falling fast enough. The first is to compare the variation of the Gini coefficient in Brazil with what was observed in several countries that today belong to the OCDE (United Kingdom, United States, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Norway, and Spain) while these same countries built their social welfare systems during the last century. The second approach is to calculate for how much Brazil must keep up the fall in the Gini coefficient to attain the same levels of inequality of three OCDE countries that can be used as a reference: Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The data indicate that the Gini coefficient in Brazil is falling 0.7 point per year and that this is superior to the rhythm of all the OCDE countries analyzed while they built their welfare systems but Spain, whose Gini fell 0.9 point per year during the 1950s. The time needed to attain various benchmarks in inequality are: 6 years to Mexico, 12 to the United States and 24 to Canadian inequality levels. The general conclusion is that the speed with which inequality is falling is adequate, but the challenge will be to keep inequality falling at the same rate for another two or three decades.

Global booms and busts: how is Brazil's middle class faring?

Brazil's Post War economic history has been marked by inflationary booms and busts, which kept large parts of the population poor, as income distribution remained highly skewed, and most governments failed to put enough efforts and resources into education and health. That seems to have changed recently, as an increasing number of studies have shown considerable advances in the incomes of the lower and the middle classes. This essay examines those findings and puts them into a historical perspective, discussing earlier attempts and hopes of Brazilian policy makers to advance the welfare of the population. It concludes that while the last fifteen years have been remarkable for the country to achieve macroeconomic stability and while the increasing efforts of supporting the poor seemed to have been moving income distribution slowly towards a more equal level, there is still a long way to go. The 2008 world financial crisis also hit Brazil hard, but the recovery has been smoother and faster than in any OECD country. The impact of the current crisis may provide a good test as to the robustness of the previous trends to further the wellbeing of the poor and the middle class

Desigualdade, mas de qual falamos?

What inequality are we talking about? The essay was motivated by the recent disclosure of documents by multilateral development institutions demonstrating that the last phase of economic growth has tended to aggravate socioeconomic inequality. The purpose of the current analyze is to debate the advances that have been made and the persisting methodological and analytical difficulties in the debate on inequality as well as to contribute with a few insights towards the construction of a multidimensional view of a recurring and inherent aspect of capitalist development.

Exchange rate pass-through inflation and wage differentials in late-industrializing economies: the Mexican case

This paper investigates exchange rate pass-through inflation, and the wage bargaining process, in a developing economy in which firms' market power is largely dependent on technical progress embodied in imported intermediates and capital goods. It develops a heterodox model of income distribution, based on theoretical contributions from Latin American structuralists, labor market segmentationists and post-Keynesian writers, and it presents supportive empirical evidence from the Mexican economy.

A queda da desigualdade de renda corrente e a participação do 1% de domicílios de maior renda, 2000-2010

According to OECD, the recent process of deterioration of the income distribution chain in developing and developed countries has been marked by increased participation of 1% of households with higher income. In the past decade, Brazil has escaped the general trend of deterioration of the income distribution. This paper shows that the reduction of economic inequality was accompanying the reluctance of the participation of top 1%, arguing that the reproduction of the movement more generally requires that this participation has been reduced in the current decade, to enable sustained growth and development with social justice.

Cases distribution of leptospirosis in City of Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil, 2000-2010

INTRODUCTION: Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by microorganisms of the genus Leptospira that affects several species of animals, including the human beings. The study described the confirmed cases of leptospirosis in Manaus, from 2000 to 2010. METHODS: A descriptive study based on secondary data analysis of Secretaria Municipal de Saúde (SEMSA), Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação SINAN and Sistema de Informação sobre Mortalidade (SIM) analyzing the variables: age group, gender, clinical aspects and geographic area and lethality. RESULTS: Were reported 665 cases of leptospirosis, 339 were confirmed and 35 (10.3%) died. The largest number of cases occurred in May (16.8%), March (13.3%) and April (11.4%), a period of intense rainfall. The city areas with the greatest occurrence of the disease were South (26.6%), West (23.5%) and East (19.7%), areas of the greatest precariousness socio-environment. The largest number of cases, including deaths, occurred in the age group from 14 to 44.9 years (74%), being that 291 (85.8%) were male and 48 (14.1%) females. The most frequent symptoms were fever, myalgia, headache and jaundice. In relation to the social conditions were identified low education, poor housing, absence of sanitation and low income. CONCLUSIONS: In Manaus, despite the implementation of the Social and Environmental Program of Igarapés of Manaus (PROSAMIM), there are still areas that need a proper urbanization and improvements in socio-environmental conditions, reducing the level of exposure of the human beings that living in these locations.

Spatial distribution of trachoma cases in the City of Bauru, State of São Paulo, Brazil, detected in 2006: defining key areas for improvement of health resources

IntroductionThe objective of this study was to analyze the spatial behavior of the occurrence of trachoma cases detected in the City of Bauru, State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2006 in order to use the information collected to set priority areas for optimization of health resources.Methodsthe trachoma cases identified in 2006 were georeferenced. The data evaluated were: schools where the trachoma cases studied, data from the 2000 Census, census tract, type of housing, water supply conditions, distribution of income and levels of education of household heads. In the Google Earth® software and TerraView® were made descriptive spatial analysis and estimates of the Kernel. Each area was studied by interpolation of the density surfaces exposing events to facilitate to recognize the clusters.ResultsOf the 66 cases detected, only one (1.5%) was not a resident of the city's outskirts. A positive association was detected of trachoma cases and the percentage of heads of household with income below three minimum wages and schooling under eight years of education.ConclusionsThe recognition of the spatial distribution of trachoma cases coincided with the areas of greatest social inequality in Bauru City. The micro-areas identified are those that should be prioritized in the rationalization of health resources. There is the possibility of using the trachoma cases detected as an indicator of performance of micro priority health programs.

Uniformity of liquid distribution in the canopy of the bean plant, using the spectrophotometric analysis

Fungal diseases are important factors limiting common bean yield. White mold is one of the main diseases caused by soil pathogens. The objective of this study was to quantify the distribution of a fungicide solution sprayed into the canopy of bean plants by spectrophotometry, using a boom sprayer with and without air assistance. The experiment was arranged in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial (two types of nozzles, two application rates, and air assistance on and off) randomized block design with four replications. Air assistance influenced the deposition of solution on the bean plant and yield increased significantly with the increased rate of application and air assistance in the boom sprayer.