Analysis of equity in the distribution of federal funding to primary health care among the municipalities of Ceará, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the equity in the distribution of resources of primary health care in municipalities of the state of Ceará. Methods: this is an ecological study, using secondary data from the public domain of 184 municipalities in Ceará, between 2004 and 2014. Population data were collected at the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System; resources were received from the cost of primary care in the National Health Fund and municipal development index in the Institute of Research and Economic Strategy of Ceará. The expenditure on total primary care and per capita was calculated by population size of the municipalities, and the analysis was performed using scatterplots and boxplots. Results: a sequential increase variation was revealed between large municipalities> small municipalities> medium-sized municipalities. Per capita spending on primary care are varied: medium-sized municipalities> large municipalities> small-sized municipalities. Between 2000 and 2014, spending on primary health care per capita stands out in small municipalities, from R $ 45.23 (2004) to R $ 132.97 (2014); in medium-sized municipalities from R $ 32.52 to R $ 97.05; and large municipalities, from R $ 29.14 to R $ 82.10. Graphical analyzes found greater growth in spending between small municipalities, from 2004 to 2012, decreasing in 2014. Conclusion: the federal government's primary health care financing policy benefited small municipalities, with an increasing trend of resources between 2000 and 2000. 2012, however, in 2014, this trend was reversed, which is worrying for the maintenance of Primary Care as the basis of the Unified Health System.