Profile of demand and Continuous Cash Benefits (BCP) granted to children diagnosed with microcephaly in Brazil.

The Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 introduced the Continuous Cash Benefits (BCP), allowing the inclusion of people with disabilities. This is a descriptive study with aggregate municipal data about the time and geographic distribution of the incidence of microcephaly related to the Zika virus in Brazil and data of the BCP grants to children diagnosed with microcephaly. Data on the demand and BCP grants to children with microcephaly since 2009 are shown. Cases of microcephaly and/or central nervous system disorders were obtained from the Ministry of Health and totaled 2,366 confirmed cases from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016. The historical series of BCP granted from 2009 to 2016 was based on data from the National Institute of Social Security and showed, until 2014, a baseline with an average of 200 annual benefits for children younger than 48 months with microcephaly. In 2016, grants increased eight times, reaching 1,603 benefits granted to children of 731 municipalities spread in the 27 States. The Northeast accounted for 73% of the BCPs granted, however, this was less than 65% of the demand for incident cases. The implementation of the integrated referral system, including active search, should be strengthened to ensure access to all children entitled to BCP.