FioSchisto's expert perspective on implementing WHO guidelines for schistosomiasis control and transmission elimination in Brazil.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes schistosomiasis as one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases targeted for global elimination in the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals. In Brazil, schistosomiasis mansoni is considered a public health problem, particularly prevalent among vulnerable populations living in areas with poor environmental and sanitary conditions. In 2022, the WHO published a Guideline encompassing recommendations to assist national programs in endemic countries in achieving morbidity control, eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem, and advancing towards interrupting transmission.

[Schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiases and sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic reviewRelación entre la prevalencia de esquistosomiasis y geohelmintiasis y las condiciones sanitarias en América Latina y el Caribe: una revisión sistemática].

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the prevalence of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis with variables related to access to water, sanitation and solid waste in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.

Method: A systematic review was performed in the LILACS, PubMed, Web of Science, and SciELO databases. Studies published between 1950 and August 2021, with an ecological design and a focus on population groups (states, municipalities and/or districts), having the prevalence of infection by .

Effect of environmental factors in reducing the prevalence of schistosomiasis in schoolchildren: An analysis of three extensive national prevalence surveys in Brazil (1950-2018).

Background: Over seven decades, Brazil has made admirable progress in controlling schistosomiasis, and a frequent question about the explanation for this reduction refers to the effect of improving environmental factors in the country. This article seeks to identify factors related to the change in the epidemiological situation of schistosomiasis mansoni infection by analyzing three national prevalence surveys conducted since 1950.

Methodology/principal Findings: This is an ecological study analyzing an unbalanced panel of data based on national surveys and considering the municipality as the unit of analysis.

Sewerage as a protective factor for prevalence of hookworm infection in schoolchildren in Brazil: A multilevel ecological analysis of national prevalence surveys (1950-2018).

Introduction: The prevalence of hookworm infection in Brazil has decreased considerably in recent decades. However, there is no definitive consensus as to which changes have contributed to this reduction. A hypothesis is that improvements in environmental factors have contributed to lowering the parasite load and the level of host-parasite contact.

Changes in access to water and incidence of waterborne diseases after the Vale dam collapse in Brumadinho (MG), Brazil.

Objective: To describe, within the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation (HRWS) framework, the access to water supply services and the incidence of waterborne diseases in the communities affected by the dam disaster in Brumadinho (MG), Brazil.

Methods: A quantitative and qualitative methodology was used, having as variables information on access to water supply services and waterborne diseases. The primary data were extracted from the "Brumadinho Health Project", using a sample stratum with 981 people interviewed, totaling 92.

Water, sanitation and schistosomiasis mansoni: a study based on the Brazilian National Prevalence Survey (2011-2015).

This study aimed to explore the association between water, sanitation, and the prevalence of schistosomiasis mansoni in students aged 7 to 17 years from all 27 federative units in Brazil. It was a cross-sectional study conducted based on data on the prevalence of schistosomiasis mansoni referring to 197,567 students from 521 Brazilian municipalities, who participated in the National Survey on the Prevalence of Schistosomiasis Mansoni and Soil-transmitted Helminth Infections (2011-2015). Univariable and multivariable generalized linear models of the negative binomial type were adjusted using 25 and 5% significance levels, respectively, considering municipalities as the unit of analysis.

Worldwide Surveillance Actions and Initiatives of Drinking Water Quality: A Scoping Review.

This study identified and mapped worldwide surveillance actions and initiatives of drinking water quality implemented by government agencies and public health services. The scoping review was conducted between July 2021 and August 2022 based on the Joanna Briggs Institute method. The search was performed in relevant databases and gray literature; 49 studies were retrieved.

Surveillance of Drinking Water Quality Worldwide: Scoping Review Protocol.

Universal access to clean and safe drinking water is essential for life maintenance since exposure to poor quality water is harmful to health. Drinking water quality is part of public health actions and, together with sanitation, a human right essential for life and a sustainable development goal. Moreover, an independent surveillance system conducted by the Ministry of Health or government agencies is needed for the safety of drinking water quality.

Healthcare waste generation in hospitals per continent: a systematic review.

There are increasing worldwide concerns about the negative impacts of healthcare waste generated in hospitals, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Hazardous type of waste can contribute to adverse effects both in human populations and the environment because of its physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. A comprehensive view on increasing waste in the world has not been conducted to understand the breadth of the issue; thus, this paper sought to provide an analysis of hospitals' healthcare waste generation rate.

Preliminary Assessment of COVID-19 Implications for the Water and Sanitation Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean.

COVID-19 has had a severe impact on human health, as well as in social and economic terms, with implications for the management and governance of the water and sanitation sector. These implications are evident in Latin America and the Caribbean due to existing challenges the region faces in accessing water and sanitation services. In spite of significant advances, around 65 million people in the LAC region currently lack appropriate access to water and soap to wash their hands-one of the most basic measures to prevent the spread of disease.

Bolsa Família Program and environmental health: a systematic review of the effects on diarrhea and malnutrition.

The Bolsa Família Programme and environmental health interventions are public policies that can have a combined positive effect on health inequities. The Bolsa Família Programme is designed to improve health conditions, reduce food insecurity and increase family incomes. Environmental health interventions aim to ensure public health and environmental protection.

Association between water and sanitation and soil-transmitted helminthiases: Analysis of the Brazilian National Survey of Prevalence (2011-2015).

Background: Most of the studies conducted in Brazil assessing the relationship between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, have focused on cases, reflecting the reality of small areas and not of a countrywide situation. In order to fill this gap, the current paper presents an epidemiological study exploring the association between water and sanitation and STHs prevalence in students from 7 to 17 years old, in all 27 Brazilian Federation Units.

Methods: Three ecological studies were carried out considering the prevalence of ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm as outcome variables.

Combination of conditional cash transfer program and environmental health interventions reduces child mortality: an ecological study of Brazilian municipalities.

Background: This study aims to assess the interactive effects of Brazilian public interventions, environmental health programs (access to water, sanitation and solid waste collection) and a Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PBF), on the mortality reduction due to diarrhea and malnutrition among children under 5 years old.

Methods: The study design is ecological, with longitudinal analysis in a balanced panel. The period covered is 2006 to 2016, including 3467 municipalities from all regions of the country, which resulted in 38,137 observations.

Combined effects of conditional cash transfer program and environmental health interventions on diarrhea and malnutrition morbidity in children less than five years of age in Brazil, 2006-2016.

Introduction: Governmental measures aiming at social protection, with components of disease control, have potential positive impacts in the nutritional and health outcomes of the beneficiaries. The concomitant presence of these measures with environmental sanitation interventions may increase their positive effect. The context of simultaneous improvement of social protection and environmental sanitation is found in Brazil since 2007 and an assessment of the combined effects of both programs has not been performed so far.

Explanatory Matrices on the Causes of a Tailing Dam Collapse in Brazil: The (Dis)Articulation of Epistemes.

Mining tailing dam ruptures are increasingly common events in South America. Due to their high potential degree for avoidance, they are considered to be technological disasters and often have a considerable impact on local populations and communities, as well as affecting the ecosystem. The failure of the Fundão dam in 2015 in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais (is) considered one of the largest socioenvironmental disasters in the country's history.

The right to water: Impact on the quality of life of rural workers in a settlement of the Landless Workers Movement, Brazil.

Access to water for rural populations is vital not only for personal consumption and hygiene but also for food production, income generation and cultural practices. To deepening the understanding of this issue, this research addressed the access to water in a settlement of the Landless Workers Movement. The perspective of the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation was used as a theoretical framework, assessing how inadequate access to water impacts the quality of rural populations.

Environmental health conditions in protracted displacement: A systematic scoping review.

Adequate environmental health services are critical for human rights, health, and development, especially in the context of forced displacement. There are more than 70 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide, most in protracted situations, having been displaced for more than two years. Some live in camps or informal settlements, but most live in urban areas.

COVID-19 faecal-oral transmission: Are we asking the right questions?

Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in stools and sewage has recently been reported, raising the hypothesis of faecal-oral transmission. If confirmed, this could have far-reaching consequences for public health and for pandemic control strategies. In this paper, we argue that a comprehensive and more nuanced analysis is required to test this hypothesis, taking into consideration both environmental dynamics and the persistence of viral infectivity.

[Adequate solid waste management as a protection factor against dengue casesGestión adecuada de los residuos sólidos como factor de protección contra los casos de dengue].

Objective: To investigate whether solid waste management and municipal socioeconomic indicators are associated with incidence rates of dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya in municipalities located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Methods: This exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional study included all the 853 municipalities of Minas Gerais. Only secondary data were used, collected and grouped according to planning regions.

Deliberative effectiveness in municipal sanitation and health councils: a study in Belo Horizonte-MG and in Belém-PA.

Deliberation in municipal councils of sanitation and health is the object of this study. Deliberation is understood as decision making and argumentative process, from the formulations of Rousseau, Habermas and Cohen. The proposed objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the deliberative action of the councils of Belo Horizonte (MG) and Belém (PA).