BackgroundEconomic development is often evoked as a driving force that has the capacity to improve the social and health conditions of remote areas. However, development projects produce uneven impacts on local communities, according to their different positions within society. This study examines the spatial distribution of three major health threats in the Brazilian Amazon region that may undergo changes through highway construction. Homicide mortality, AIDS incidence and malaria prevalence rates were calculated for 70 municipalities located within the areas of influence of the Cuiabá-Santarém highway (BR-163), i.e. in the western part of the state of Pará state and the northern part of Mato Grosso.ResultsThe municipalities were characterized using social and economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), urban and indigenous populations, and recent migration. The municipalities' connections to the region's main transportation routes (BR-163 and Trans-Amazonian highways, along with the Amazon and Tapajós rivers) were identified by tagging the municipalities that have boundaries crossing these routes, using GIS overlay operations. Multiple regression was used to identify the major driving forces and constraints relating to the distribution of health threats. The main explanatory variables for higher malaria prevalence were: proximity to the Trans-Amazonian highway, high proportion of indigenous population and low proportion of migrants. High homicide rates were associated with high proportions of migrants, while connection to the Amazon River played a protective role. AIDS incidence was higher in municipalities with recent increases in GDP and high proportions of urban population.ConclusionsHighways induce social and environmental changes and play different roles in spreading and maintaining diseases and health threats. The most remote areas are still protected against violence but are vulnerable to malaria. Rapid economic and demographic growth increases the risk of AIDS transmission and violence. Highways connect secluded localities and may threaten local populations. This region has been undergoing rapid localized development booms, thus creating outposts of rapid and temporary migration, which may introduce health risks to remote areas.
The social and economic impacts caused by floods in urban areas are diverse and increase as the land becomes gradually impervious. Due to the increasing urbanization of cities, it is necessary to implement a better planning process and optimize the urban spaces management and occupation. Thus, the government needs to gather reliable and useful data for the decision-making process. Therefore, the GIS plays an important role among urban planning instruments. Given the current situation in Campina Grande County, Paraiba State, Brazil - an area continually facing disturbances caused by occasional and concentrated rainfalls - the current study aims to map the areas seen as the most susceptible to floods, by using a MCDA GIS-based model (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis). There are five quantitative criteria considered in the analysis: slope, altitude, roads with drainage infrastructure, distance from water bodies and land use. It is a pixel by pixel analysis based on predetermined assumptions. Fuzzy functions were developed and overlay operations were performed. The results were consistent with historical records and with previous studies about the county, thus adding reliability to the model, which can be considered a potential management instrument for the case study area, as well as for cities facing similar issues.
In developing countries, the urbanisation process occurs with empirical urban management, a high increase of impermeable areas, and a lack of connection between water resource management and planning. In Brazil, concentrated rainfall and ineffective urban drainage systems add to this context and may impact the population with flash floods. Although sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are widely used for flood mitigation, it is still not very well known how those strategies behave in semi-arid regions, where most of the time the weather is very dry. In Brazil, flood mitigation still mostly involves structural measures such as larger pipes or channels, with limited guidance for SuDS use due to the great resistance to change by citizens and managers. This study sought to analyse the efficacy of SuDS in Campina Grande, a semi-arid region of Brazil. A land-use and legislation-based methodology was developed with physical, climate, hydrological and governance data for three catchments and 312 sub-catchments in 30 applications and simulations. Simulations suggest that these strategies would be appropriate for semi-arid regions, with reductions in the flooded area, flooding volume, and impacts. This study is of relevance for cities with a similar climate to reach a sustainable level of urban drainage services, supporting the integration of urban planning and water resources management.
A Política Nacional de Saneamento Básico, Lei n.11.445/2007, tem como princípio a universalização do acesso aos serviços de abastecimento de água à toda a população. Porém, muitas cidades brasileiras não fornecem tratamento de água ferindo um direito fundamental: à vida humana, previsto na Constituição Federal de 1988. Esse estudo foi realizado na cidade de Itapororoca (PB), e objetivou diagnosticar a universalização do serviço de abastecimento de água segundo a percepção dos usuários, avaliando a qualidade e oferta do serviço prestado. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório e descritivo realizado entre os meses de maio a junho de 2018, o qual foi aplicado 52 questionários em uma associação de moradores no Bairro Vista Alegre. Além dos questionários, foram analisados os laudos técnicos, fornecidos pela Secretaria Municipal de Saúde, com os resultados da qualidade das águas distribuídas para a população. A partir dos resultados, constata-se que o município não atende ao princípio da universalização do serviço abastecimento de água conforme demonstrado nas diferentes análises, seja pela falta de infraestrutura, politicas publicas ou até mesmo de uma eficiente gestão municipal. As análises físico-químicas e microbiológicas distorcem da avaliação dos usuários uma vez que seus resultados não estão dentro dos padrões exigidos pela resolução vigente.
Entre os desafios enfrentados pelas concessionárias responsáveis pelo abastecimento de água nos centros urbanos está a prestação de um serviço de qualidade que atenda às exigências dos usuários. Objetivando colaborar com a melhoria do serviço de abastecimento oferecido à população, o presente trabalho propôs o desenvolvimento de um índice de desempenho do serviço de abastecimento de água na cidade de Campina Grande - Paraíba (IDSA-CG). Foram estudados 22 indicadores divididos em cinco categorias: operacional, econômico-financeira, qualidade, infraestrutura e recursos humanos. Dentre os indicadores selecionados está o de satisfação do usuário, criado, neste trabalho, a partir do levantamento da percepção da população a respeito do serviço oferecido pela concessionária e incorporado aos demais indicadores para compor, o mais fielmente possível, o IDSA-CG. Os resultados dos indicadores mostraram que a infraestrutura e a qualidade da água obtiveram valores ótimos, próximos ou iguais aos limites de referência definidos na pesquisa. As maiores deficiências do serviço foram associadas aos indicadores operacionais, apontando para uma necessidade de melhoria das perdas na distribuição, macromedição, e consumo médio de água e energia, e os indicadores econômico-financeiros, que alertam para maior fiscalização das ligações clandestinas de água e monitoramento da inadimplência dos usuários. O indicador de satisfação obteve um valor de 45,44%, que mostrou um usuário pouco satisfeito com o serviço oferecido pela empresa. O resultado do IDSA-CG revelou que o serviço atualmente disponibilizado à cidade é classificado como REGULAR, sendo necessárias medidas estruturantes e administrativas para a melhoria da gestão do mesmo.
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