Gasto público e políticas públicas: uma avaliação do desempenho da rede materno-infantil em Minas Gerais

Abstract

The evaluation of public policies with regard to the management aspects is a relatively recent and has been attracting more and more researchers. These assessments use diverse tools which allow to understand the many faces of this form of government intervention in their societies. This way, the performance of governmentsin dimensions such as efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness, access and equity can be measured with increasing accuracy. This study examined the effects of public spending on the delivery of public policy. For this, we selected health policy, in Minas Gerais. The programmatic action chosen was the Programa de Redução da Mortalidade Infantil e Materna em Minas Gerais, also called Programa Viva Vida, from the resources involved in implementing this policy. It was analyzed the initial and final years of 2002 and 2009. The methodology consists of two separate tools. The first tool is through the analysis of indicators. This tool was used in the evaluation of access and outcomes. The second tool used was data envelopment analysis (DEA). It was used in the analysis of efficiency. Data collection was made from archival research, literature and secondary data collection,through documents, reports and statistics. The latter were accessed via the internet on official site, in which indicators and data are disclosed in the health field. Data on health care delivery were obtained from the Departamento de Informática do SUS (DATASUS). The data used were collected in October 2011. The results suggest a specific increase access to maternal and child health activities in the municipalities of the state, but with the maintenance of inequalities between regions of the state. The study has limitations as to use only themain indicators of the policy itself studied and analyze the initial and final years of the period considered.