Demographic component of the information system of the attention to indigenous health, Dsei-Xavánte, Mato Grosso, Brazil

This study analyzes the consistence of the demographic module of the System of Information of Attention to Indigenous Health for the Shavante Indian Indigenous Special District (in Portuguese, DSEI), Mato Grosso, from 1999 to 2004. The data were obtained through reports made available by SIASIWEB. The database was investigated trying to detect inconsistencies, including more than a single registration for the same event. For the whole DSEI, the infant mortality rate (in Portuguese, TMI) in the period went from 89,2 to 83,8 per thousand after the corrections in the database. Analyzing by base headquarters, the alterations were even more substantial. In the case of the Água Boa base headquarters, the reduction of TMI went from 43,3 to 21,3 per thousand. The gross mortality and birth rates also experienced reduction after the corrections. Those discoveries evidence significant problems in the database on the health of the Shavante people, generating demographic indicators that are distant of the real situation of the population. The authors point out the need of enhancement of the collection and analysis of the demographic data in the extent of the system of information about the indigenous health.

Shavante Indian; indigenous demography; information system; demographic indicators; South American Indians