Abstract
Although water is recognized as essential for the appropriate functioning of biological systems and human health, many countries and a large part of the global population are water stressed. The expected changes to the hydrologic cycle brought about by the process of global climate change will aggravate this situation. Almost 90 % of the four billion diarrhea episodes occurring globally each year are linked to deficiencies in sewage disposal and the supply of safe water. In Brazil, the most important public health problems associated to water are: diarrheal diseases, schistosomiasis and other helminth infections, leptospirosis, vector-borne diseases (e.g. malaria and dengue fever) and poisoning by Cyanobacteria toxins. It is suggested, for Brazil, the setting of quantitative goals for reduction in childhood diarrhea in the next 5 years as well as development of integrated indicators for the monitoring of water-and-sanitation-related health problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ambrizzi, T., Rocha, R. P., Marengo, J. A., Pisnitchenko, I., Alves, L. M., & Fernandez, J. P. R. (2007). Cenários regionalizados de clima no Brasil e América do Sul, para o século XXI: Projeções de clima futuro usando três modelos regionais. Relatório 3. IAG/USP, CPTEC/INPE, 112 p.
Arnell, N. W. (2004). Climate change and global water resources: SRES emission scenarios and socioeconomic scenarios. Global Environmental Change, 14, 31–52.
Azevedo, S. M. F. O. (1996). Toxic cyanobacteria and the Caruaru tragedy. IV Simpósio da Sociedade Brasileira de Toxinologia. Recife. 83 p.
Azevedo, S. M. F. O. (2005). South and Central America: Toxic cyanobacteria. In G. A. Codd, S. M. F. O. Azevedo, S. N. Bagchi, M. D. Burch, W. W. Carmichael, W. R. Harding, K. Kaya, & H. C. Utkilen (Eds.), Cyanonet: A global network for cyanobacterial bloom and toxin risk management (pp. 115–126). Paris: IHP-Unesco.
Azevedo, S. M. F. O., Carmichael, W. W., Jochimsen, E., Rinehart, K., Lau, S., Shaw, G., et al. (2002). Human intoxication by microcystins during renal dialysis treatment in Caruaru, Brazil. Toxicology, 181, 441–446.
Baettig, M., Wild, M., & Imboden, D. M. (2007). A climate change index: Where climate change maybe most prominent in the 21st century. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L01705.
Bates, B., Kundzewicz, Z. W., Wu, S., & Palutikoff, J. (2008). Climate change and water. IPCC/TSU, Technical Paper. 210 p.
BRASIL. (2005). Lei 11.107. Dispõe sobre normas gerais de contratação de consórcios públicos.
BRASIL. (2007). Lei 11.445. Estabelece diretrizes nacionais para o saneamento básico.
Carmichael, W. W., An, J. S., Azevedo, S. M. F. O., Lau, S., Rinehart, K. L., Jochimsen, E. et al. (1996). Analysis for microcystins involved in outbreak of liver failure and death of humans at a hemodialysis center in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. IV Simpósio da Sociedade Brasileira de Toxinologia.
Carmichael, W. W., Azevedo, S. M. F. O., An, J. S., Molica, R., Jochimsen, E., Lau, S., et al. (2001). Human fatalities from Cyanobacteria: Chemical and biological evidence for cyanotoxins. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109, 663–668.
CEDEPLAR, & FIOCRUZ. (2008). Migrações, mudanças climáticas, saúde segurança Pública: Cenários para o Nordeste brasileiro, 2000–2050. Relatório de Pesquisa, Belo Horizonte, CEDEPLAR/FICRUZ, March 2008, 775 p.
Guimarães, J. R. D., Meili, M., Hylander, L. D., Castro e Silva, E., Roulet, M., Mauro, L. B. N., et al. (2000). Net mercury methylation in five tropical flood plain regions of Brazil: High in the root zone of floating macrophyte mats but low in surface sediments and flooded soils. Science of the Total Environment, 261, 99–107.
Hilborn, E. D., Fournie, J. W., Azevedo, S. M. F. O., Chernoff, N., Falconer, I. R., Gage, M., et al. (2008). Human health effects workgroup report. In K. H. Hudnell (Ed.), Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms: State of the science and research needs (pp. 589–616). New York, NY: Springer.
IBGE. (2000). Pesquisa Nacional de Saneamento Básico. Brasília: IBGE.
Jochimsen, E. M., Carmichael, W. W., An, J. S., Cardo, D., Cookson, S. T., Holmes, C. E. M., et al. (1998). Liver failure and death following exposure to microcystin toxins at a hemodialysis center in Brazil. The New England Journal of Medicine, 36, 373–378.
Kehrig, H. A. (1999). Investigação dos níveis de metilmercúrio em amostras ambientais e humanas. Tese de Doutorado, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.
Lawrence, P., Meigh, J., & Sullivan, C. (2002). The Water Poverty Index: An international comparison. Keele Economics Research Papers, 24 p.
Magalhães, V. F., Marinho, M. M., Domingos, P., Oliveira, A. C., Costa, S. M., Azevedo, L. O., et al. (2003). Microcystins (Cyanobacteria hepatotoxins) bioaccumulation in fish and crustaceans from Sepetiba Bay (Brasil, RJ). Toxicon, 42, 289–295.
Magalhães, V. F., Soares, R. M., & Azevedo, S. M. F. O. (2001). Microcystin contamination in fish from the Jacarepaguá Lagoon (RJ, Brazil): Ecological implication and human health risk. Toxicon, 39, 1077–1085.
Marengo, J. A. (2008). Água e mudanças climáticas. Estudos Avançados, 22, 83–96.
Marengo, J. A., Nobre, C. A., Salati, E., & Ambrizzi, T. (2007). Caracterização do clima atual e definição das alterações climáticas para o território brasileiro ao longo do século XXI. Ministério do Meio Ambiente, SBF/ProBio, Brasília. 54 p.
Pouria, S., Andrade, A., Barbosa, J., Cavalcanti, R., Barreto, V., Ward, C., et al. (1998). Fatal microcystin intoxication in haemodialysis unit in Caruaru, Brazil. The Lancet, 352, 21–26.
Prüss-Ustin, A., Bos, R., Gora, F., & Bartram, J. (2008). Safer water, better health. Costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. Geneva: WHO. 53 p. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/saferwater/en/index.html.
Rezende, S. C. (2005). Utilização de instrumentos demográficos na análise da cobertura por redes de abastecimento de água e esgotamento sanitário no Brasil. Tese de Doutorado, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte.
Schuster-Wallace, C., Grover, V., Adeel, Z., Confalonieri, U. E. C., & Elliot, S. (2008). Safe water as the key to global health. Canada: United Nations University, INWEH. 28 p.
Sullivan, C. (2002). Calculating a Water Poverty Index. World Development, 30, 1195–1210.
Sullivan, C., & Meigh, J. (2007). Integration of biophysical and social sciences using an indicator approach: Addressing water problems at different scales. Water Resources Management, 21, 11–128.
Teixeira, M. G. L. C., Costa, M. C. N., Carvalho, V. L. P., Pereira, M. S., & Hage, E. (1993). Gastroenteritis epidemic in the area of the Itaparica Dam, Bahia, Brazil. Bulletin of the Pan American Health Organization, 27, 244–253.
United Nations Statistics Division. (2008). Millennium development goals indicators. Retrieved from http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/default.aspx.
WHO/UNICEF. (2006). Protecting and promoting human health. In Water, a shared responsibility. The UN Water Development Report 2 (pp. 202–240). Paris: UNESCO.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Confalonieri, U., Heller, L., Azevedo, S. (2017). Water and Health: Global and National Aspects. In: de Mattos Bicudo, C., Galizia Tundisi, J., Cortesão Barnsley Scheuenstuhl, M. (eds) Waters of Brazil. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41372-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41372-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41371-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41372-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)