WHO RULES SANITATION?

Matéria postada em Português no dia 02/09/2024

por Henrique Xavier e Hugo Prado

 

Social control is an important instrument used to characterize collegiate bodies between government officials and the population, its association with basic sanitation services is essential for meeting the indices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the question arises how these rates are controlled in order to offer drinkable quality to the Brazilian population.

In “Economic and financial management in the sanitation sector – Funasa / Ministry of Health”, 2014, Brazil underwent standardization of public sanitation services by the unitary state in the colonial and imperial periods, reaching hybrid models since the proclamation of the Federative Republic in 1891. The management of the service is governed by constitutional provisions and organized by state, unitary or federal policy.

            Facilitated access to drinkable water is a determining factor for population health and human development; the authors Rocha and Soares, state that in dry regions, such as the Brazilian semi-arid region, water scarcity, due to lower rainfall, is related to higher infant mortality, in the same way as lower birth weight and/or a shorter period of pregnancy. In one scenariao, which involves public health, public policy will determine the protection and well-being of vulnerable families.

Promoting sanitation for the population, in addition to ensuring quality of life, environmentally prevents sewage and solid waste from polluting water and soil. Sanitation planning does not consider climate change, even if there is the possibility of drought or flood, which directly impacts the availability of spring water, as a result, the impact is proportionally direct on the water supply, and people in social vulnerability’s situations will be the main ones affected by the lack of effective distribution planning.

Exemplifying a public policy intervention is the Federal Government’s Cisterns Program, which promotes easier access to quality water for human consumption for the most vulnerable rural families. The promotion is carried out by building cisterns in the houses of families in this situation, where water is collected during the rainy season; it is a low-cost and functional solution. Some authors associate the program with neonatal results, based on data from records with birth results with microdata on the construction of these cisterns, showing the positive effect on birth weight.

The Institute for Applied Economic Research – IPEA, 2022, declares that in Brazil there is a strong relationship between poverty and sanitation, with a common area of ​​action between sanitation policy and other actions of the federal government. Ex Ante Consultoria Econômica, in the study ‘Economic and Social Benefits of Sanitation Expansion’, estimates real estate appreciation of R$ 447.5 billion in real estate appreciation, and R$190.4 billion in increased labor productivity by 2036. Failure to universalize this service tends to perpetuate poverty, as poverty will cause poor sanitation and access to drinking water: irregular sanitation or insufficient access to drinking water promotes the perpetuation of poverty.

Social control has the inherent and essential role of monitoring power, however, it is unacceptable for there to be even the slightest distance from its function. Therefore, the exercise of citizenship must prevail to promote sanitation and visibility, of the social and governmental body, of more programs of this nature.

The images presented in this article come from the image bank on the Freepik website. For readers who are interested in delving deeper into the content presented, we suggest the following works:

https://www.smarh.eng.ufmg.br/defesas/1333M.PDF?src=16678

https://www.smarh.eng.ufmg.br/defesas/1171M.PDF?src=4223

https://www.smarh.eng.ufmg.br/defesas/501M.PDF?src=30730

https://www.gov.br/mds/pt-br/acoes-e-programas/acesso-a-alimentos-e-a-agua/programa-cisternas

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