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datasusr

datasusr provides fast, in-memory reading of DATASUS .dbc files and a complete workflow for discovering, downloading, caching, and reading Brazilian public health data from the DATASUS FTP.

Looking for a broader toolkit? If your workflow goes beyond the DATASUS FTP — e.g. you also need IBGE surveys (VIGITEL, PNS, PNAD-C, POF, Censo), SISAB primary-care indicators, ANS, ANVISA, or out-of-the-box variable dictionaries and value labels — healthbR is the more complete and currently more active package, and is the recommended first choice in many cases. datasusr focuses on being a small, fast, dependency-light reader for raw DBC files plus a catalog and FTP layer. See the Comparison article for the full breakdown.

❕️ Disclaimer
This package is an independent, community-maintained tool that accesses publicly available data files from the DATASUS FTP server (ftp://ftp.datasus.gov.br). It is not affiliated with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, DATASUS, or any government entity. To maintain consistency with R package development standards, all functions use English names (e.g. datasus_fetch(), datasus_sources()). However, because the source data is produced by Brazilian government systems, parameter values use official DATASUS codes in Portuguese (e.g. source = “SIHSUS”,

uf =
“PE”

), and column names in the returned tibbles reflect the original DBC/DBF field names (e.g. uf_zi, ano_cmpt, munic_res, val_tot). For reference on the original data layouts and field descriptions, use datasus_docs_url() or see the official DATASUS documentation.

Installation

# Install from GitHub
# install.packages("remotes")
remotes::install_github("StrategicProjects/datasusr")

Quick start

library(datasusr)

# One-step: list, download, and read SIH data for Pernambuco
df <- datasus_fetch(
  source    = "SIHSUS",
  file_type = "RD",
  year      = 2024,
  month     = 1,
  uf        = "PE"
)

df

Step-by-step workflow

For more control, use the individual functions:

library(datasusr)

# 1. Explore the catalog
datasus_sources()
datasus_file_types(source = "SIHSUS")

# 2. List available files on the FTP
files <- datasus_list_files(
  source    = "SIHSUS",
  file_type = "RD",
  year      = 2024,
  month     = 1:3,
  uf        = c("PE", "PB")
)

# 3. Download (with automatic caching)
downloads <- datasus_download(files, use_cache = TRUE)

# 4. Read a DBC file into a tibble
x <- read_datasus_dbc(downloads$local_file[[1]])

# 5. Read with column selection and type control
x <- read_datasus_dbc(
  downloads$local_file[[1]],
  select     = c("uf_zi", "ano_cmpt", "dt_inter", "val_tot"),
  col_types  = c(dt_inter = "date", val_tot = "double"),
  parse_dates = TRUE
)

Cache management

Downloads are cached by default so repeated runs do not hit the DATASUS FTP:

datasus_cache_info()
datasus_cache_list()

# Prune old files
datasus_cache_prune(older_than_days = 90)

# Or clear everything
datasus_cache_clear()

You can configure the cache directory via the DATASUSR_CACHE_DIR environment variable, the datasusr.cache_dir R option, or the cache_dir argument.

Data sources

DATASUS data sources supported by datasusr

Main functions

Function	Purpose
`datasus_fetch()`	List + download + read in one call
`read_datasus_dbc()`	Read `.dbc` / `.dbf` files into a tibble
`datasus_sources()`	Browse data sources in the catalog
`datasus_file_types()`	Browse file types by source
`datasus_list_files()`	List candidate files (optionally validated against FTP)
`datasus_download()`	Download files with caching support
`datasus_get_territory()`	Download territorial reference tables (municipalities, etc.)
`datasus_docs_url()`	Find FTP paths for documentation and data dictionaries
`datasus_ftp_ls()`	Raw FTP directory listing
`datasus_cache_*()`	Cache management helpers

Progress messages

All functions emit cli progress messages by default. Suppress them with verbose = FALSE.

License

MIT

These binaries (installable software) and packages are in development.
They may not be fully stable and should be used with caution. We make no claims about them.
Health stats visible at Monitor.