Rodrigues Ana Verônica, de Siqueira Arnaldo A Franco
Departamento de Saúde Materno-Infantil, Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 01246-904, Brasil.
Cad Saude Publica. 2003 Jan-Feb;19(1):183-9. doi: 10.1590/s0102-311x2003000100020. Epub 2003 Apr 1.
The precarious available information and difficulties in obtaining consistent data on maternal deaths in Brazil raise doubts as to the reliability of official statistics. The Committees on Maternal Mortality are considered an important strategy for overcoming these difficulties. This article discusses certain aspects of the Committees' performance, based on the case of the State of S o Paulo, demonstrating the Committee's role as a policy and advocacy instrument, thus going beyond merely an epidemiological surveillance strategy. This position has produced impasses in the work involving investigation of maternal deaths, and the resulting adversities, including limited institutional authority and power to intervene, have greatly jeopardized its functions both in the technical and political arenas. The Committee should be repositioned in order to strengthen itself as both a mechanism for investigation and a collective stakeholder to propose measures for the prevention and reduction of maternal mortality.
巴西孕产妇死亡方面现有信息不稳定且难以获取一致数据，这让人对官方统计数据的可靠性产生怀疑。孕产妇死亡委员会被视为克服这些困难的一项重要策略。本文基于圣保罗州的案例，探讨了该委员会工作的某些方面，展示了其作为政策和宣传工具的作用，从而超越了单纯的流行病学监测策略。这一立场在涉及孕产妇死亡调查的工作中造成了僵局，由此产生的不利因素，包括机构干预的权威和权力有限，极大地损害了其在技术和政治领域的职能。该委员会应重新定位，以强化自身作为调查机制和集体利益相关者的角色，从而能够提出预防和降低孕产妇死亡率的措施。
