title: [The cost of violence for the public health system in Brazil: available data and possibilities for estimation].
abstract: The Brazilian public budget for health was R$ 53 billion (approximately U$ 20 billion) in 2003. What share of this total was to treat victims of violence? It is impossible to estimate that proportion directly, due to limitations in the available data. This paper proposes a methodology to estimate the cost of violence for the public health system, using data from the Unified National Health System, the government budget, and the demand for public medical services (National Household Sample Survey). According to our estimates, in 2004 the costs of treatment for victims of external causes, aggressions, and traffic accidents were R$ 2.2 billion, R$ 119 million, and R$ 453 million, respectively. These findings were approximately four times higher than those observed in other studies.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. rute.imanishi@ipea.gov.br
authors.forename: Rute Imanishi
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Daniel Ricardo de Castro
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Cerqueira
authors.forename: Waldir Jesus de Araújo
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lobão
authors.forename: Alexandre Xavier Ywata de
authors.initials: AX
authors.lastname: Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000191:economics; D000555:Ambulatory Care Information Systems; D001938:Brazil; D002017:Budgets / Q000379:methods; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000191:economics*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D014754:Violence / Q000191:economics*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000191:economics