ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH - AN ANALYSIS OF I NTRAURBAN DIFFERENTIALS IN THE CITY OF SAO-PAULO, BRAZIL

A field study undertaken in the city of S. Paulo is presented as part of the project Environment and Health in Developing Countries: An Anal isys of Intra-Urban Differentials Using Existing Data financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom with academic suppor t from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The research aim was to fill in the gaps in the information needed to est ablish associations between mortality, urbanization and the environmen t. Statistics were produced by means of existing data collected by cit y departments, research carried out by universities and census data. D ata quality was assessed taking into consideration data coverage, accu racy, and sensibility to pinpoint deprived areas in the city of S. Pau lo. Socioeconomic data were used to create a composite index for distr icts and subdistrict in order to form four socioeconomic zones. Mortal ity differentials between the zones by five broad age groups (0.4, 5-1 4, 15-44, 45-64 e 65+) and four ICD chapters (circulatory, respiratory , infectious and parasitic and external causes) are presented. The zon ing use showed that 43.8% of S. Paulo residents live in areas under th e worst socioeconomic conditions. Health data demonstrated that people living in this areas had higher rates of mortality then those living in the areas with the best conditions. Finally, excess mortality data are analysed and suggested as a good method for allocating health reso urces.