Secular trend of cervical cancer mortality in Brazil and regions

Abstract The scope of this study was to describe the secular trend of cervical cancer mortality in Brazil and its various regions from 1980 to 2021. It involved a populational and ecological study, based on data available at the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System, using codes 180 and C53. Crude rates, age-specific rates, and age-standardized rates were calculated for the Brazilian and world population. The Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) was obtained by trend analysis using the Joinpoint Regression Program, with a significance level of 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). There were 171,793 deaths from cervical cancer. In Brazil (AAPC -0.3; CI95%-1.0; 0.4), North (AAPC 0.6; 95%CI -0.1; 1.3) and South (AAPC 0.0; 95%CI -0.5; 0.5) the trends were stationary, increasing in the Northeast (AAPC 0.6; 95%CI 0.3; 0.8) and in the Midwest (AAPC -1.3; 95%CI -1.5; -1.1), and decreasing in the Southeast (AAPC -0.9; 95%CI -1.4; -0.5). Regional differences indicate that public policies need to be improved regarding women’s access to a health system that offers adequate prevention, screening and treatment through management strategies that include the most vulnerable population.