Proportional mortality in Brazil’s indigenous population in the years 2000, 2010, and 2018

ABSTRACT

This study aims to analyze indigenous mortality in Brazil in 2000, 2010, and 2018. This is a descriptive study with data from the Mortality Information System (SIM, in Portuguese). Proportional mortality among indigenous people and the remaining Brazilian population was calculated according to age, sex, cause, and regions of Brazil. The proportion of deaths among indigenous people, for individuals younger than one year of age, in 2000, 2010, and 2018 was 15.3%, 17.7%, and 16.2%, respectively. The proportions for the general Brazilian population were 7.2%, 3.5%, and 2.7%, respectively. For indigenous people aged 50 years and over, the proportions in the same years were 47.0%, 48.1%, and 52.0% and in the rest of Brazil, 66.8%, 74.4%, and 79.4%, respectively. In 2018, indigenous children under 1 year of age died more from perinatal disorders (39.4%), infectious and parasitic diseases (10.1%), and external causes (9.8%). In children under 1 year of age, from the non-indigenous Brazilian population, these causes corresponded to 57.8%, 3.8%, and 2.8%, respectively. Indigenous people over 50 years of age died more from circulatory diseases (28.6%), respiratory diseases (15.4%), and neoplasms (14.6%), and in the remaining Brazilian population, these causes represented 31.5%, 13.6%, and 19.0%, respectively. Health inequalities and worse indicators among indigenous peoples in Brazil are evident.

KEYWORDS
Mortality; Health of indigenous populations; Information system; Epidemiology; Brazil