Sanitation and public health in the hydrographic basin of Reginaldo creek, Maceió, Alagoas

ABSTRACT Urban watersheds have a rather complex reality with regard to water quality, usually as a result from the lack of sanitation services, with direct consequence on the health of population. Reginaldo creek bay in Maceió, Alagoas, has great spatial variation in the patterns of basic sanitation providing and, thus, great variation in environmental health indicators which impact in the incidence of waterborne diseases. This study aims to correlate the occurrence and incidence of waterborne diseases with the Environmental Health Index (ISA). The ISA index used is based on the occurrence, magnitude and extent of flooding and on the quality and scope of the provision of water supply, sanitation services and solid waste collection. Results indicate a relationship between ISA and the incidence of specific diseases (related to a particular ISA component), but they also show that results are substantially affected by spatial resolution of data and the methodology for obtaining primary indicators. It was also observed that the method to obtain and classify spatial data is crucial to identify the relations between each sanitation component and the incidence of a specific disease, as well as their spatial extent. Within the area studied, most diagnosis are attributed to dengue, hepatitis and leptospirosis, especially dengue over the others. Results were mapped in the studied area by census tract.