- Every year, 217,000 workers have to take time off work due to gastro-intestinal problems resulting from the lack of sanitation. Every such incident results in 17 hours of lost time.
- The chances of a person with access to a sewage system missing work due to diarrhea problems is 19.2% less than that of a person without access to such a system.
- Given Brazil’s average wage of R$5.70 per hour, time lost due to lack of basic sanitation costs R$238 million per year in hours paid but not worked.
- According to DATASUS, in 2009, of the 462,000 patients hospitalized with gastro-intestinal infections, 2,101 died in hospital.
- Each hospital admission costs R$350.00 on average. Universal access to sanitation would reduce the number of admissions by 25% and the mortality rate by 65%, i.e. 1,277 lives would be saved.
Source: Survey of the Economic Benefits of Expanding Sanitation in Brazil – Instituto Trata Brasil/FGV, 2010.
- Children with access to basic sanitation do 18% better at school;
- 11% of time off work is also related to problems caused by lack of access to sanitation;
- Despite the substantial increase in tax revenue and income resulting from the increased flow of tourists in 20 destinations indicated by Embratur, their investments in basic sanitation are still far too low;
- The 81 largest cities in the country, all of which with a population of more than 300,000, dispose of 5.9 billion liters of untreated sewage per day, contaminating soil, rivers, water sources and beaches, with a direct impact on the health of the population.
Source: Survey on Sanitation, Education, Work and Tourism – Trata Brasil Institute/FGV, 2008.
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