Mayor of Sinop cursed journalists when questioned. In 2022 there were 50 deaths and in the first four months of this year there were 11 deaths
From 2022 to the first four months of this year, 61 child deaths occurred in hospitals in Sinop. The number is the highest in the historical series of Datasus, the Ministry of Health’s data system, and places the municipality in the north of Mato Grosso at a worse level of infant mortality than in the 1990s.
The Midiajur report heard experts and professionals in the field to try to understand what explains this disastrous record in the municipality. In 2022, according to a report sent by Sinop city hall itself, 50 children died in the municipality.
The highest number since 1996, the last year available on Datasus. Infant mortality only showed similar numbers in Sinop in the 1990s: in 1999 there were 43 deaths recorded, even lower than what was seen in 2022.
In 2023, the infant mortality rate in Sinop was 14.14 deaths among children under 1 year of age for every 100,000 live births. In Brazil, the rate is 11.9 deaths, according to the most recent data from the Childhood and Adolescence Scenario in Brazil in 2023.
In the first four months of 2023, the problem continued: there were 11 child deaths registered, according to the city hall. In many cases, children died waiting for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This is what happened to Lavínia Martins Ribeiro, Bruna Tigre da Silva and Manoella Tecchio, some of the children who died in recent months.
From January to August, 5 deaths were reported in the Mato Grosso press and the reason is the same for all reported cases: lack of ICU affected the health of the children, who needed specific treatment.
City Hall does not want to talk about the matter
The Midiajur report contacted Sinop city hall to better understand the reasons for child deaths in the municipality and find explanations about the case. No manifestation was sent at the time of writing this report.
The few times he was asked about the matter, Mayor Roberto Dorner (Republicans) either equivocated or preferred not to comment. In one of the spies, he misrepresented the mayor’s speech on the subject when he said that “[children] die everywhere”
At another point, Dorner cursed journalists. The case happened in March this year, at the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso (ALMT).
Lack of structure and organization
According to Datasus, Sinop has 200 hospitalization beds. Of these 200, only 10 beds are obstetrics and neonatology.
According to José Bazan, member of the budget and planning committee of the State Health Council, the municipality of Sinop serves an area of 700 thousand inhabitants. Which, in practice, is larger than the population of Cuiabá. This data, according to him, shows that the municipality would need greater attention.
“The set of instruments available to the community in that region would have to be equivalent to the set of instruments available in Cuiabá”, says Bazan.
For him, another failure is in the municipality’s basic care, which currently cannot monitor cases of high-risk pregnancies efficiently. Sinop managed to meet only 68% of the target for consultations for pregnant women in the first four months of 2023.
“Every pregnancy has medical monitoring, in general it is agreed that the woman undergoes at least 6 follow-ups, but what is agreed today in all municipalities is that the woman undergoes a maximum of 3 consultations”, he asks. “If it is possible to detect a high-risk pregnancy, this ICU would already be prepared for the woman”, he adds.
City needs a pediatric center
In August this year, the state government delivered 30 pediatric beds to Sinop. Of this total, 10 are Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.
According to state deputy Adenilson Rocha (PSDB), the government’s action has already shown results, but the city hall needs to invest in basic care.
“Sinop needs a pediatric center until 10 pm, just to care for children, I see reports of many mothers with problems who cannot be attended to, mothers often arrive there with the problem, the problem evolves and this leads to lack of ICU”, he states.
City Hall admits failure in report to SUS
A city hall report presented to the Ministry of Health for the 1st quarter of 2023 shows the size of the problem in the municipality: there have been 11 child deaths since the beginning of the year. The infant mortality rate in Sinop is 9.23%. The city hall itself admitted the problem in a report sent to the MS.
“The Mortality Rate of the municipality and the entire region ended 2022 above the recent historical average, deaths are being investigated and a program of training, prenatal monitoring, growth and development of the child is being carried out to improve the indicator”, says excerpt from the document.
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