Aplicação do indicador de salubridade ambiental (ISA) em 208 municípios mineiros: ferramenta de controle de políticas de saneamento

Abstract

This research aimed to assess the urban health of municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais through the application of the Environmental Health Indicator (ISA), created in 1999 by the State Council of Sanitation (CONESAN) of the State of São Paulo. In terms of background, a literature review was conducted, revealing that the ISA has been used in 89 studies in Brazil, with 86% of these materials originating from academic work such as master's theses, doctoral dissertations, and articles, while 14% originated from proposals in Municipal Basic Sanitation Plans (PMSB), including the State Basic Sanitation Plan of the State of São Paulo (PESB). Using the ISA, a diagnosis of the environmental health of 208 municipalities in Minas Gerais with populations of up to 20,000 inhabitants, who did not have a PMSB between 2015 and 2020, was conducted. The ISA calculations were carried out using an algorithm developed in the Dart programming language. The results were subjected to statistical methods such as the Cophenetic Correlation Coefficient, the Elbow Method, dendrograms, and boxplots, allowing for cluster analyses, annual assessments, and evaluations by watershed. The findings demonstrated a qualitative growth of 8,92% and a quantitative increase of 27% in municipalities that moved into the category of average environmental health. Furthermore, the results enabled a comparison of environmental health between municipalities in Minas Gerais and the state of São Paulo (PESB), identifying that Minas Gerais municipalities performed less satisfactorily in two areas of basic sanitation: water and sewage. In conclusion, a brief discussion of the results of the ISA components was provided, highlighting the identified gaps.