The average was calculated by the entity based on a survey that considered around 38 thousand police reports

Every day, nine doctors are victims of violence in healthcare establishments in Brazil, according to data from the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM). The average was calculated by the entity based on a survey that considered around 38 thousand police reports made between 2013 and 2024 in the country’s civil police.

According to the data, the most violent year for professionals was 2023, when 3,993 cases occurred, an increase of around 50% compared to 2013, the year in which 2,669 professionals filed a police report for violence in the workplace. The information considers public and private healthcare establishments.

“From now on, we will start searching for answers. Why are these doctors attacked? Is it a delay in care? Is there a problem in the doctor-patient relationship? Why does this happen? And, from there, we will look for solutions to these problems”, stated Jeancarlo Fernandes Cavalcante, 3rd vice-president of the CFM.

The CFM consulted all States through Access to Information Law requests. Only Rio Grande do Norte did not respond, while Acre stated that it did not have the data. Other states, such as Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul, did not meet the requested standards, either because they did not filter violence against doctors in the workplace, or because the data corresponded to violence in health establishments, but the The victim’s profession was ignored. Given this, the CFM chose to create a weighted average for these States.

The data considered different types of violence, such as: threats, bodily harm, criminal acts, disruption of work, insults offending dignity, contempt, slander, defamation, theft, among others. Among the cases considered, 47% of the victims were women and 53% men.

Acting president of the CFM, Emmanuel Cavalcanti states that, often, the lack of infrastructure in the work environment also ends up straining the doctor’s performance. He also says that, in general, the security provided in healthcare establishments is focused on protecting property and not healthcare professionals.

“We need effective action to protect our greatest asset, which is human heritage. Not just doctors, but all health professionals involved in care,” he says.

In absolute terms, the State of São Paulo leads in the number of cases over the years analyzed, with 18,406 occurrences, in a universe of 166 thousand doctors registered with the council. In São Paulo, 45% of cases occurred in hospitals, and the rest in clinics, offices, laboratories, health centers and nursing homes.

When observing the average number of incidents per thousand doctors over a period of ten years (2013-2023), however, it is possible to observe that states in the North region have a higher rate of violence. The highest averages, considering this ratio, were recorded in Amapá (37.8 cases per thousand), in Roraima (26.4 cases per thousand) and in Amazonas (23.7 cases per thousand).

The interior of the country also tends to have higher rates than the capital, representing 66% of occurrences.

CFM Communications Director, Estevam Rivello, advocates that States improve the collection of data on violence against doctors to serve as a basis for developing more effective policies. He also argues that it is necessary to involve the Executive and Legislative branches in combating the problem.

“(We need) From the articulation of regional councils in the State secretariats, enabling standardization, improvement and combating violence against professionals to stricter laws, which punish the offender and protect the health environment and the professional”, he said.