Municipal public health spending in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, from 2000 to 2007

In order to assess the impact of macropolitical measures implemented in the latter half of the 1990s on the increase in public spending on health and the possible reduction in allocation inequity, a descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out involving 184 municipalities in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Data from the Public Health Budget Information System was used, with the selected indicator being spending on health per inhabitant under the responsibility of the municipality. The correlations of this variable with the municipal Human Development Index, population size and value of the municipal budget per capita were analyzed. It was seen that, although the mean increase in municipal spending on health is 190.76%, the value per capita has remained relatively low - at around R$183.79 - which is below the national and macro-regional averages. Both spending on health per capita and growth percentages are distributed irregularly among health regions as well as among municipalities within a single region. In conclusion, there is marked allocation inequity among municipalities with regard to the distribution of public resources for health, despite the macro-political measures adopted to reduce this inequity.