Municipal Policy of Basic Sanitation and the occurrence of diseases in Brazilian municipalities

Abstract Inadequate sanitation can lead to several endemic and epidemic diseases. The objective is to analyze the influence of the Municipal Basic Sanitation Policy (PMSB) on the occurrence of diseases related to inadequate basic sanitation in Brazilian municipalities. Using data from the 2017 Municipal Basic Information Survey (MUNIC), the empirical analysis is divided into two steps. First, the spatial probit model is used to identify whether the presence of PMSB influences the likelihood of municipalities having diseases. Second, the logit model is used to verify the chances of diseases occurrence, taking into account the type of PMSB spatial cluster that the municipalities belong to. The results of the first stage detected the presence of spatial dependence and do not confirmed that having the PMSB reduces the probability of diseases occurrence in the municipalities. The results of the second stage showed that there is a decreased chance of disease occurrence in municipalities that belong to HH clusters (municipalities with PMSB, surrounded by municipalities with PMSB) and LH clusters (municipalities without PMSB, surrounded by municipalities with PMSB). These results show that PMSB must be planned considering a wider context than municipal boundaries.