O Impacto do Programa Saúde da Família Sobre a Saúde das Crianças da Área Rural do Brasil

This paper aims to analyze the impact of Family Health Program (PSF) on the children’s health (under 12 years old) in Brazil’s rural area, using data from the PNAD (2008) and the PSM and OLS methods, applying sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that the PSF has a statistically significant and high magnitude impact on the children’s health in Brazil’s rural area. However, it is concentrated in the North and Northeast, and it is not significant in the Mid-South. For the Northern region, this impact is independent of age, while in the Northeast it is significant for younger age groups. The sensitivity analysis show robustness of the results especially for younger children. There is confirmation of the hypothesis that this type of policy benefits the individuals of the poorest regions in rural area.