Assessment of the Housing Improvement Program for Chagas Disease Control in the Northwestern municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
The Housing Improvement Program for Chagas Disease Control (HIPCDC) was established in 2001 in Northwestern Rio Grande do Sul State, aiming to improve the conditions of the domiciliary and peridomiciliary environments to make them resistant to triatomine colonization. This study aimed to assess the impact of the HIPCDC on triatomine control by developing local population and authority awareness on the issue.
The study was conducted by means of questionnaires applied to local authorities and the program beneficiaries. Three municipalities - Ajuricaba, Coronel Barros, and Crissiumal - were visited.
A program coordinator from each municipality and 62 individuals from selected households were interviewed. The authorities reported difficulties in the implementation of the program due to differences between the project development period and financial resource availability, in addition to a lack of understanding by the community not included in the program. As for the houses, most improvements were made in the peridomiciliary environments; moreover, construction of 4 new residences, as well as the renovation of others, was also reported. Regarding suggestions to the program, requests for better planning (44.9%) and renovation quality (36.7%) were highlighted. With reference to the presence of triatomine bugs, prior to the HIPCDC adaptations, 12.9% of the respondents reported coming across at least one specimen at home, as compared to 22.6% who found these insects in peridomiciliary areas.
Despite reports of difficulties in carrying out the HIPCDC, there was an improvement in the housing conditions, with no triatomine occurrence reports after the program implementation.
Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.|Laboratório de Parasitologia Humana, Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Cibele Velleda Dos
CV
Santos
Divisão de Vigilância Ambiental em Saúde, Núcleo de Vigilância dos Riscos e Agravos Ambientais Biológicos, Secretaria Estadual da Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Clenonara
C
Bedin
Divisão de Vigilância Ambiental em Saúde, Núcleo de Vigilância dos Riscos e Agravos Ambientais Biológicos, Secretaria Estadual da Saúde do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Tania Stasiak
TS
Wilhelms
Laboratório de Parasitologia Humana, Departamento de Microbiologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Marcos Marreiro
MM
Villela
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D007300:Insect Control / Q000592:standards*; D007303:Insect Vectors; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011156:Population Density; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014225:Triatominae