Sérgio Côrtes, State Secretary of Health, RJ
English translation of article “Secretaria de Saúde do Rio pode estar usando artifício para reduzir número de homicídios no estado.” From Rio .40, published May 27, 2011.
Rio’s Health Secretary Might Be Artificially Reducing Homicide Statistics in the State
Untrustworthy data about violent deaths from the Health Secretary of Rio de Janeiro indicate government manipulation of information
Everyone who follows my blog knows my skeptical position relating to criminality statistics for the state of Rio de Janeiro produced by the Institute of Public Security (ISP) of the state government.
Since ISP data began to show a miraculous fall in the number of homicides—without any plausible explanation—I no longer believe in these statistics.
This week, I have become certain that the government data is not reliable. After analyzing violent death statistics from the State Health Department, which are then disseminated by the Health Ministry for consolidated states on national violent deaths, I have noticed that, since 2007 (the first year of Sérgio Cabral’s government), the number of deaths with “undetermined intent” [quotations added] shot up.
