Bolsa Família Reduced Infant Mortality by 17%, Study Points Out

Analysis was from 2006 to 2015 and showed that the program's impact was even greater in the poorest municipalities

São Paulo

Renata de Jesus Paulo, 32, supports her four children, Aline, 15, Gabriel, 12, Jonas, 6, and Pedro, 2, in addition to herself with the benefit of the Bolsa Família program.

Last month, she got scared when she bought a gas canister for R$100, equivalent to about a quarter (23%) of what she receives in one month of the program, worth R$447.

Renata is one of the more than 13.9 million beneficiaries of the program. Her four children are healthy and did not suffer from infant mortality under the age of five. And most likely this is due to Bolsa Família.

A study carried out by researchers from Fiocruz Bahia, in conjunction with the Federal University of Bahia and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, demonstrated how Bolsa Família (PBF) reduced infant mortality and improved the health condition of children in the country in ten years, from 2006 to 2015.

Data from more than 6 million Brazilian families with children aged up to five years at the time of the study were evaluated, of which 4,858,253 (77%) were beneficiaries of Bolsa Família. In families that received the benefit, infant mortality was 17% lower than in those that did not.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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