Desigualdades no acesso a saneamento básico na zona rural do município de Pelotas, RS

Abstract

Introduction: Basic sanitation comprises a set of services and facilities divided into four components: 1) supply of potable water, 2) sewage, 3) urban cleaning and solid waste management and 4) drainage and management of urban rainwater (BRASIL, 2013). Improvements in sanitation conditions were important achievements in the recent history of the country, contributing to the reduction of the burden of infectious diseases (BARRETO et al., 2011) and infant mortality (VICTORA, 2009). However, inequalities in access are still striking and there is a lack of information on how and in what proportion inequalities occur in rural areas. Population-based cross-sectional studies are an adequate design for studying inequalities, allowing representative estimates of the population situation to be obtained. However, in general, population based research in rural areas is rare, due to numerous specificities, such as operational cost and logistical difficulties (GONÇALVES et al., 2018). Objective: To describe the conditions of basic sanitation in the rural area of the city of Pelotas, RS, and to verify the existence of differences in access in relation to the gender of the head of household, socioeconomic level and geographic region. Methodology: The data in this research are from a cross-sectional population-based study carried out in 2016 with 716 households in the rural area of Pelotas. Sanitation conditions were evaluated using three indicators: water supply, sewage and waste disposal. These indicators were evaluated individually and combined. Combined, the composite indicator (ie, the three indicators together), categorized as: no access (inadequate access to the three indicators); adequate access to one service, adequate access to two services and full access. The association of indicators with gender of head of household, socioeconomic level and geographic region were verified using the chi square test. Results: Only 2.1% (95%CI 0.5 – 7.2) of households in the rural area of Pelotas had adequate basic sanitation (based on the three indicators) and, for 20.7% (95%CI 10.3 – 36, 4) of households, access was inadequate in the three indicators. Households headed by men and farther from the urban area had, on average, worse sanitation conditions. Associations with measures of socioeconomic status did not hold after adjustment for a geographiregionson. Conclusions: These results show that there is practically no adequate basic sanitation in the rural area of Pelotas. This demonstrates the urgency of sanitary conditions among rural people and can support public managers in decision-making, formulation of public policies and strengthening of existing programs.