Even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, killing more than 166,000 people in the country, chronic diseases were increasing in Brazil. Chronic diseases can now be considered risk factors for the new coronavirus.
According to data released this Thursday (18) by the National Health Survey 2019 of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), more than half (52%) of the adult population was affected by at least one chronic disease in 2019, including diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, and others.
All of them have had percentage growth since 2013, the date of the last similar study done by the institute.
The disease that most affected Brazilians last year was high blood pressure, affecting 23.9% of the adult population, or 38.1 million people. The number represents an increase in comparison with 21.4% of six years before.
All of these diseases can be considered risk factors for Covid-19. And currently, Brazil is one of the countries most affected by the new coronavirus, totaling 166,067 deaths and 5,876,740 people infected since the beginning of the pandemic.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon