The scope of this paper was to assess the health level in Brazilian states using the Health Development Index (HDI). The HDI consisted of the following dimensions: (1) Health resources: Availability and quality of health resources; (2) Primary Healthcare coverage and sanitation; (3) Effectiveness of health policies. Each dimension was composed of a set of indicators obtained from national databases. In 2005, Brazil had an intermediate level of development of health, having progressed from a low level in 1999. Most states had medium and low development, with deficits in resources and coverage. The dimension of effectiveness was highly developed nationwide. With the construction of a synthetic indicator (HDI) it was possible to detect that in most of the country there are severe deficiencies in the availability and quality of health resources. These results can help health managers to tackle the challenge of making public health universal.
Health indicators; Health statistics; Health inequalities; Health management; Socioeconomic factors; Ecological studies
