Economic and health benefits of investing in sanitation

What is it about?

Sanitation and hygiene are linked to the physical health of people. But the lack of sanitation can cause infectious diseases and increase the burden of treatment costs. In this study, the authors tried to find the economic relationship between healthcare and sanitation. They looked at the benefits of spending on sanitation and compared them with benefits of spending on healthcare. Using data on healthcare and waste collection from a town in Brazil, they tested the opportunity costs of these expenses. Next, they proposed a probable cash flow method for investing on “missing” sanitation services. The idea was to see if spending on these sanitary services results in health cost savings. They found that spending regularly on sanitation is a better investment for preventing diseases than spending on healthcare.

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Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash

Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Making decisions on where and what to spend on is difficult. Questions of healthcare and sanitation are even more complex. Spending on healthcare can treat the disease but spending on sanitation can prevent them from happening. Sanitary services also affect the quality of water, air, food, and the environment. Since taxpayers’ money is used for such expenses, spending wisely on these services is important. This study has found new ideas, which can ease this decision-making for authorities. The simple plan proposed by the authors can be used in other local situations. It can also help decision-makers compare investment costs with ease. KEY TAKEAWAY: For the good health of the society, spending on sanitary services like waste collection and treatment is better than spending on health care.