Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of Community Health Agent (ACS) training on workers’ health to improve on the improvement of the assess assessment and recording of occupation for child and adolescent (6–17 years of age) in Ficha A of the Primary Care Information System (SIAB). This intervention study is based on a pre-post training evaluation of Community Health Agents (ACS) undertaken in the Health District of Freedom, Salvador (DSL). After preliminary contacts with DSL managers to obtain authorisation to conduct the study, all ACS involved in Primary Health Care, PHC, were invited to attend a 8 h training on workers’ health. We analysed completeness and quality of those records before (before August 2012) and after the training (intervention) held in September 2012. Prevalence of child and adolescent labour was estimated with SIAB data at the baseline, and its changes after intervention, using proportional percentage variation to assess the impact. All 132 ACS attended the training on the effects of work on health, types of employment, illegal child and adolescent labour, workrelated health problems, specialised occupational health services. Before the intervention data showed that 2,255 children were living in the PHC covered area in DSL. Occupation records were limited to only 94 children (4.2%), and only one was identified as a having a paid job. After the intervention the number of children and adolescents increased to 2,974, and occupation data was recorded for almost all of them (99.9%). The prevalence of child labour was estimated at 1.0% after intervention, similar for girls and boys. There were 31 cases recorded of child and adolescent labour, resulting in a proportional variation of 30 times. This study underscore the feasibility of the World Health Organisation recommendation to integrate workers’ health care into PHC, specially to help eliminating child and adolescent labour.