The Trata Brasil Institute and the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) launch this Wednesday (20), in São Paulo, the publication 'Economic Benefits of the Expansion of Brazilian Sanitation'. The launch will take place at the Water Forum: strategic management in the business sector, an event held by CEBDS, in partnership with Ambev, Coca-Cola, HSBC and the Água Brasil Program – an initiative of Banco do Brasil, WWF, ANA and Fundação Banco do Brasil.
The publication highlights the main benefits that the country would have if it achieved universal access to treated water and sewage services. Among several areas that would improve with these services, the study highlights the benefits to health, education, employment and income, real estate and tourism.
“A country like Brazil, with aspirations to stand out in major international discussions, cannot remain among the most backward in the most basic aspects – sanitation. Despite hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, we have still not managed to guarantee treated water, sewage collection and treatment to all citizens,” says the executive president of Instituto Trata Brasil, Édison Carlos.
“The results highlighted in this publication should offer a clearer view of the opportunities generated by solving this challenge and, in this way, encourage governments and companies to invest in sanitation, in order to adapt the reality of our infrastructure to the size and importance of our country”, considers Marina Grossi, president of CEBDS.
Conducted by Professor Fernando Garcia, from the economic consultancy Ex Ante, the research was done with the aim of showing that progress in basic sanitation not only prevents diseases and other problems, but also generates opportunities, productivity and wealth for the country.
The publication presents an international comparison for the first time and shows that Brazil, the seventh largest economy in the world, is ranked 112th in the sanitation ranking. It also says that the expansion of sanitation from 4.1% per year slowed down in the 2010s – in the previous decade, it was 4.6% per year – which distances us even further from the federal government's already distant goal of universalizing services by 2030.
Main results of the study:
Sanitation in Brazil and the World – Human Development
In the global context, Brazil ranks 112th out of 200 countries in terms of sanitation. Brazil's score on the Sanitation Development Index – an indicator that takes into account current sanitation coverage and recent developments – was 0.581 in 2011. Brazil's score is lower not only than the averages for North America and Europe, but also than those of some countries in North Africa and the Middle East, where average incomes are much lower than Brazil's. Ecuador (0.719), Chile (0.707), Honduras (0.686) and Argentina (0.667), for example, had scores much higher than Brazil's in 2011.
– The sanitation situation has immediate repercussions on health indicators. The infant mortality rate in Brazil was 12.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011. This figure is much higher than the world average or the infant mortality rates in Cuba (4.3%), Chile (7.8%) or Costa Rica (8.6%).
– The precarious situation of sanitation is also reflected in the longevity of the population. Life expectancy in Brazil, at 73.3 years in 2011, is lower than the Latin American average (74.4 years). In relation to the closest countries, Brazil was far behind Argentina (75.8 years) or Chile (79.3 years).
Sanitation and Quality of Life
– In 2013, according to the Ministry of Health (DataSus), more than 340,000 hospitalizations due to gastrointestinal infections were reported throughout the country. Around 173,000 were classified by doctors as “diarrhea and gastroenteritis of presumed infectious origin”. 170,700 hospitalizations involved children and young people up to 14 years old.
– The study shows that if 100% of the population had access to sewage collection, this number would fall to around 266 thousand, representing a reduction, in absolute terms, of 74.6 thousand hospitalizations. 56% of this reduction would occur in the Northeast.
– In 2013, the cost of hospitalization for gastrointestinal infection in the Unified Health System (SUS) was approximately R$355.71 per patient on a national average. This resulted in public expenditures of R$121 million per year. Universalization would result in annual savings of R$27.3 million, distributed R$52.31 in the Northeast and R$27.21 in the North; the remainder of the reduction would occur in the Southeast, South and Central-West regions of the country.
– In 2013, 2,135 people died in hospital due to gastrointestinal infections. It is estimated that this number could fall to 1,806 cases, a reduction of 329 deaths (15.5%) if there was universal access to sanitation.
Sanitation and Productivity
– In 2008, 15.8 million people, equivalent to 8.3% of the population, reported having been absent from their activities for at least one day, according to data from IBGE. Of this total, 969 thousand (6.1%) absences were caused by diarrhea, of which 304.8 thousand were working and 707.4 thousand attended school or daycare.
– Approximately 300,000 workers lost 900,000 days of work. Of this total, 37.0% were concentrated in the Southeast region of the country and 27.1% in the Northeast. Each absence resulted in 16.7 hours of work being lost, which is equivalent to a loss of R$151.13 per absence. Thus, it is estimated that in 2012, R$1.112 billion were spent on hours paid for but not actually worked.
– Universalizing water and sewage services would enable a reduction of 23% in absences from work – around 196 thousand fewer days. This would imply a cost reduction of R$ 258 million per year.
– Workers without access to sewage collection earn wages, on average, 10.1% lower than those who live in places with sewage collection. The lack of access to treated water imposes an average loss of 4.0% in labor remuneration.
– The average income from work in Brazil in 2012 was approximately R$1,432.00.[1] The universalization of sewage and treated water would bring an increase of more than R$ 88.00 per month in the average for workers, that is, an increase of 6.1%.
This increase in the country's wage bill, which is currently around R$1.7 trillion, would allow for an increase in payments of R$105.5 billion per year.
– Education: the study shows that, on average, students without access to sewage collection are more behind in their studies than those who have access to sanitation. Thus, universal access to sewage collection and treated water would reduce their academic delay by 6.8%, enabling an increase in the average level of education of Brazilian workers in the coming years, with effects on productivity and income.
Sanitation and environmental enhancement
– In the Latin American economies best served by sanitation, tourist flows are greater than in Brazil. Cuba, Chile and Argentina received respectively 238, 176 and 139 foreign tourists per thousand inhabitants in 2011. In Brazil, this number was only 27 tourists per thousand inhabitants that year.
– The study found that there is a difference of 13.6% between the value of two properties, one with and one without access to sanitation. The increase in the value of the properties would reach R$ 178.3 billion, therefore, alone, it would partially offset the cost of universal sanitation for Brazil, which was estimated at R$ 313.2 billion.
– It is estimated that, in the long term, the universalization of sewage services would also imply an increase in IPTU collection in proportion to the increase in the average value of properties, which gives an estimated gain of R$$ 845 million per year. The expected increase in ITBI collection exceeds R$$ 183 million per year.
– In Tourism, it is estimated that universalization would create almost 500 thousand jobs, including placements in hotels, inns, restaurants, travel agencies, passenger transport companies, etc.
– The income generated from these activities would reach R$7.2 billion per year in salaries and a GDP growth of more than R$12 billion for the country.
