Exposure of children to smoke in clay figures craft in Caruaru, state of Pernambuco, Brazil.

Introduction: Alto do Moura, a neighborhood located in the city of Caruaru, state of Pernambuco, Brazil, is known by the production of figurative art in clay, which uses wood as the main fuel in its finishing process. Chronic exposure to toxic gases released in combustion can trigger respiratory atopies.

Objectives: To identify children with respiratory atopies accompanied by the Alto do Moura Family Health Unit and the spatial distribution of furnaces used in the burning of figurative art in clay.

[Challenges to Performance Management: logical analysis of an Evaluation Policy in Health Surveillance].

Acknowledging the contributions of the assessment area in supporting the performance of health policies, is to admit it in an ongoing and permanent way in the management context. This requires a set of procedures that go beyond monitoring and evaluation practices, known as performance management. The goal of this study was to analyze the logic of the Health Surveillance (HS) Evaluation Policy of Pernambuco, comparing it with the corresponding Canadian policy.

[Monitoring of performance of health surveillance management: tools and strategies of use].

A tool is proposed to monitor the performance of Health Surveillance at state level and strategies for broadening its use. The use of participatory methodologies in all stages of monitoring is recommended, from designing the tool to the analysis and interpretation of indicators. This can be a way of involving stakeholders and improving their joint responsibilities in decision-making, thus increasing the use of the monitoring tool.

[Completeness variable evaluation from death certificate of children less than one year in Pernambuco State, 1997-2005].

An evaluative, descriptive, time series study was conducted to evaluate the completeness of variables from death certificate. The study population consisted of all deaths of children less than one year old living in Pernambuco State, Brazil, from 1997 to 2005, contained in the database of the Mortality Information System (SIM), provided by the Data Processing Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS). We calculated each variable's incompleteness (blank/unknown data) by municipality of residence.

[The implementation analysis of the arterial hypertension care by the Family Health teams in Recife city (Pernambuco, Brazil)].

The implementation analysis of the arterial hypertension care by the Family Health teams in Recife city (Pernambuco, Brazil) was based on a normative evaluation of the structure and work process and analysis of some context elements. An interview was applied to a randomized sample of doctors and nurses of 72 Family Health teams and the hypertension programme coordinator, and official documents were analyzed. A score system was used to classify the performance of the implementation level in excellent (when 90- 100% of activities were implemented); adequate (70-79%); inadequate (50-69%); and critical (<50%).

[Evaluation of the completeness of variables on Birth Certificates of residents in Pernambuco State, Brazil, 1996 to 2005].

An evaluative, descriptive, time series study was conducted to evaluate the completeness of data on certificates of live birth. The study population consisted of all live births of residents in Pernambuco State, Brazil, from 1996 to 2005, contained in the database of the Live Birth Information System (SINASC), provided by the Information Technology Department of the Unified National Health System (DATASUS). We calculated each variable's incompleteness (blank/unknown data) by municipality of residence.