Human Development Index and Primary Health Care restructuring in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the influence of the Human Development Index on the restructuring of primary healthcare services during the critical phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: a cross-sectional, analytical, and exploratory study was carried out with 1,474 primary care service managers from Brazilian municipalities. Data were collected using Google Forms and analyzed using prevalence ratios and a Poisson regression model with a random effect. Results: municipalities with a low development index had higher prevalence rates for adopting preventive measures, diagnosis, notification, implementation of protocols, active surveillance, and checking the availability of beds in a referral hospital. Guidance on preventive measures and active and ongoing surveillance was lower in municipalities with a medium development index than in cities with high and very high development indexes. On the other hand, active and ongoing surveillance was higher in municipalities with a high development index than in those with a very high development index. Conclusion: Poorer municipalities had greater organizational resilience to meet the high demand during the pandemic. Contributions to practice: collaborate in formulating public policies, protocols, and plans for dealing with public health emergencies, taking socio-economic indicators into account.

Keywords

• covid-19; primary health care; public health surveillance; health management; development indicators.