Brazil is the country with the third worst income distribution in the world and, as a consequence of the unequal distribution of its main determining factors—income, education, living conditions, sanitation, and health service¹—the health indicators also present broad inequalities by regions and social classes. Child health, because of greater vulnerability to risks and also to health protective factors, is a clear example of this iniquitous situation in Brazil. In 1999, the child mortality rate in the north eastern region of Brazil was 52.4/1000, while in the southern region it was 17.2/1000 live births.² A population based investigation performed in 1990–1991, in two cities in the north east³ found 40% of avoidable deaths among the absolute total of children who …