Researchers from Bahia state that the reduction in deaths and infections was noticed more prominently among vulnerable groups, such as indigenous people and black people
Bolsa Família reduced tuberculosis mortality in Brazil by almost 70% between 2004 and 2015, according to research published in the journal Nature Medicine this Friday (January 3, 2025). The aid, in addition, would have been responsible for reducing the incidence of the disease by around 60% in the country in the same period of time. Here is it (PDF – 4 MB).
The program, according to the study, had a great impact on more vulnerable groups. In the case of indigenous people, for example, mortality decreased by 65% and incidence by 63%. Among the population in extreme poverty, the reduction was 60% and 49%, respectively. The results were similar among black and brown people. Mortality decreased by 69% and incidence by 58%.
The research was carried out by Brazilian and Spanish organizations, such as ISC/UFBA (Institute of Collective Health of the Federal University of Bahia), the Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health, of Fiocruz Bahia, and ISGlobal (Institute of Global Health ), from Barcelona. The study also had support from the “La Caixa” Foundation.
METHODOLOGY
To arrive at the numbers, the study used data from CadÚnico (Cadastro Único para Programas Sociais) referring to 54.57 million low-income Brazilians — defined, in the study, as those with an income of up to R$218 per person per month. Of these, 43.8% were Bolsa Família beneficiaries and the other 56.2% did not receive the aid.
The information was then cross-referenced with data from Sinan (Notifiable Diseases Information System) and SIM (Mortality Information System). In this way, the researchers arrived at the following numbers: 7,993 deaths were recorded in the period and the total incidence was 159,777.
The crossing was done using a probabilistic model since personal data, such as CPF and place of birth, are protected. When adjusting factors such as age, sex, education and race/skin color, it was noticed that the rate of new infections was lower among those who received the benefit (49.4 per 100 thousand) compared to those who did not receive it (81.4 per 100 thousand). A decrease of 59%. The mortality rate was also lower (2.08 versus 4.68, or 69% reduction).
