PERFIL EPIDEMIOLÓGICO DA TUBERCULOSE NO MUNICÍPIO DE VOLTA REDONDA DE 2015 A 2024

Tuberculosis is a serious public health problem in Brazil and worldwide, with a higher incidence in underdeveloped countries. It is a true national and global tragedy, the result of centuries of social inequality and lack of state investment in quality health promotion and education. In this sense, tuberculosis constitutes a true public health problem, not only because of the interruption of lives, but also because of the high public spending by the Unified Health System to recover patients before death. Thus, this study aims to describe the epidemiological profile of tuberculosis in the municipality of Volta Redonda from 2015 to 2024 and correlate it with the profile of the State of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. To this end, secondary databases provided by the SUS Information Technology Department were used to calculate mortality rates for the last 10 years in the general population, by sex, color/race and age group, and the proportion of new cases in the three different spheres. The results showed that the municipality of Volta Redonda had the lowest tuberculosis case profile compared to the state of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, in absolute numbers from 2015 to 2024, as well as a higher proportion of cases among males and young adults. These outcomes highlight the seriousness of the problem and reinforce the need for studies to provide greater clarification on the actions needed to minimize the problem.