BASIC SANITATION INDICATORS – RESIDENT POPULATION IN THE PORTELINHA MICROAREA – JURUTI, PARÁ

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the relationship between basic sanitation and public health, as well as the future consequences arising from the interaction of people with their living environment. To achieve these objectives, a closed-ended questionnaire was applied to understand the daily lives of the population involved, their hygiene habits, and the conditions provided by the local infrastructure. This made it possible to identify factors that either expose or do not expose them to a zone of vulnerability. Subsequently, the results were compared with the definitions of the World Health Organization (WHO), which, according to Pena (2007) apud Mota (1999, p. 405), classifies sanitation as the control of all physical environmental factors that may have a harmful effect on human physical, mental, and social well-being.

To obtain these findings, a quantitative, descriptive methodology was adopted, with a field survey carried out among the resident population of the settlement known as Portelinha, located in the urban area of Juruti, Pará. The questionnaire was applied to a group of 37 families to gather details on the topic, such as demographic aspects, housing conditions, water sources, uses, and water treatment. Regarding housing data, although most residences are built with masonry structures, the limited number of rooms and uncoated cement floors indicate that residents have low purchasing power and, consequently, limited housing comfort. Regarding infrastructure, water supply and sanitation services face the greatest economic and institutional challenges, affecting service quality but not coverage rates, since 100% of residents receive free public water supply. Water treatment is rudimentary, such as straining with cloth to retain particles, and 81% store water in tanks, posing a risk for breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits an infectious viral disease through its bite.