The panorama of urban violence in Brazil and its capitals

Abstract

This article presents a descriptive epidemiological analysis of accidents and violence in Brazil and in the Brazilian capitals in recent years. The data used were made available by several sources: the Mortality Information System and the Hospital Information System of the Ministry of Health; the National Safety Department of the Ministry of Justice and the National Department of Transit of the Ministry of the Cities. The population data for the years 2002 and 2003 were made available by the DATASUS of the Ministry of Health. The authors emphasize some already known aspects: the high homicide rates and high death rates due to traffic accidents, the concentration of these events in the population of young black males and the complexity and multiplicity of determinants of these phenomena. The text points to a new scenery involving the spreading of homicides to neighbor communities of metropolitan areas and to the inner regions of the States. They further verify higher morbidity than mortality rates. It calls attention to Porto Velho, Macapá, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro and Cuiabá with the highest indicators for intentional violence - high rates of homicides and injuries - and to Palmas, with high death rates from traffic accidents and non-fatal victims per 10 thousand vehicles.