Life expectancy of Brazilians has increased

Nielmar de Oliveira

Reporter - Agencia Brasil

Rio de Janeiro - The life expectancy of Brazilians has jumped from 62 years and six months, in 1980, to 71 years and eight months, in 2004, i.e., Brazilians are currently living 9 years and one month more than 24 years ago. Child mortality dropped from 69,1% to 26,6%, which means that while in 1980 a little more than 69 children, in a group of one thousand who were born alive, died before their first anniversary, in 2004 this proportion dropped to practically 26 deaths.

These are the main conclusions of the 2004 Life Table, a study released this Thursday (1) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

According to the document "Mortality in Brazil during the 1980-2004 period: challenges and opportunities for the future", the progress of the results may be attributed to the improvement on the country's main social indicators, such as population access to health services, immunization campaigns, schooling level, and investments in basic sewage infrastructure.

The mortality rate, according to the IBGE, is a concrete example of government and non-government efforts in the health area, and which, by nature, constitutes an indicator that absorbs and reflects population's life and health conditions.

Translation: Andréa Alves