As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), "sanitation is the control of all factors of man's physical environment, which exert or may exert harmful effects on physical, mental and Social". The sanitation service, an elementary item of the infrastructure of a place, consists of a set of activities composed of sewage collection and treatment, supply of piped water, cleaning of public roads and collection of trash.
Environmental sanitation is extremely important in preventing diseases such as hepatitis A, typhoid fever, yellow fever, diarrhea, cholera, amoebiasis and malaria, as these diseases can be caused by contact with sewage (parasites present in human waste), consumption of food or water contaminated. In the environmental aspect, the lack of sanitation intensifies water pollution, in addition to causing strong odors.
It is estimated that about 6% of all diseases in the world are caused by poor sanitation, which causes the death of more than 15 million people annually from infectious diseases. Infant mortality rates are also influenced by the deficit in this service, as children are more vulnerable to diseases caused by the absence of treated water and sewage collection.
Despite all these disturbances generated by the lack of environmental sanitation, about 2.584 billion people do not have this service in their households, of which 1.6 billion are from countries in Africa and Asia, according to data released in 2010 by the United Nations Environment Program (Pnum). In Brazil, approximately 37.5% of homes do not have sanitation.
Urban expansion without proper planning makes this problem even more complex, with the occupation of areas without adequate housing infrastructure. Governments, claiming high expenses for implementing this service, are unable to structure the city according to the pace of population growth.
However, it is important to emphasize that spending on environmental sanitation is extremely advantageous, as it provides a reduction in cases of infectious diseases and the infant mortality rate, it reduces environmental impacts, in addition to offering healthy environments for the population, thus ensuring greater quality of life.
By Wagner de Cerqueira and Francisco
Graduated in Geography
Brazil School Team
General geography - geography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/saneamento-ambiental.htm