Abstract:
Brazil has an estimated 900,000 indigenous people (0.4% of the country’s population), belonging to more than 300 different ethnic groups. However, information is scarce on cancer epidemiology and the antineoplastic drugs used in treatment of these individuals. The study’s objectives are to identify the antineoplastic drugs used and to describe the profile of use of these drugs in the indigenous population treated in Brazil, as well as to describe the patients’ epidemiological profile. An ecological study was performed involving outpatient chemotherapy care from January 2014 to December 2018 throughout Brazil. The data source was the Outpatient Information System of the Brazilian Health Informatics Department, considering only Authorizations for High-Complexity Chemotherapy Procedures. We identified 2,425 authorizations for chemotherapy procedures for treatment of indigenous patients. Of these, 2,292 authorizations for a total of 210 individuals were analyzed. We found an increase in the number of authorizations and of indigenous persons receiving chemotherapy over the period, with a higher concentration of individuals living in and receiving treatment in the South of Brazil, plus a wide diversity in the types of diagnosed tumors (n = 63) and of treatment regimen used during the treatment (n = 107). The current study provided a new overview of the epidemiological profile of indigenous patients receiving chemotherapy in the Brazilian Unified National Health System. The findings help fill a current knowledge gap on indigenous people’s health in Brazil.
Keywords:
Health of Indigenous Peoples; Antineoplastic Agents; Unified Health System
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