Abstract

ISHITANI, Lenice Harumi  and  FRANCA, Elisabeth. Social inequalities and early deaths of adults of the Center-South Region of the city of Belo Horizonte in 1996. Inf. Epidemiol. Sus [online]. 2000, vol.9, n.4, pp.229-239. ISSN 0104-1673.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5123/S0104-16732000000400002.

Aiming at studying the differential mortality among adults in Belo Horizonte, deaths of both, men and women, aged 20 to 69 living in the Center-South region of the city were analyzed. Standardized mortality rates as well as the Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) and the standardized risk ratio were calculated for the local population according to their place of residence, whether districts or slums, and underlying cause of death. The three main causes of death were cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms and external causes for both, the Center- South region and the city of Belo Horizonte. Howevel, the risks of death by these diseases were higher in slums as compared to the districts: 3.0 times for cardiovascular diseases, 1.4 for neoplasms and 3.1 for external causes. Concerning the PYLL, external causes were observed to be important causes of early deaths. The greater mortality risk by chronic-degenerative diseases and external causes among the slum population indicates important social differences in health. It is concluded that the involvement of the State and of the civil society is needed in a multidisciplinary approach, not only to face violent deaths but also to search for solutions that may lead to changes in the social and economic structure in order to minimize social inequalities.

Keywords : Mortality; Adults; Inequality.

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