Evaluation of the vigidesastres program in five municipalities in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region

This study examines the Vigidesastres program, which carries out environmental health surveillance in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, focusing on the region formed by the municipalities of Nova Iguaçu, Belford Roxo, Nilópolis, Mesquita and São João de Meriti. This region, also known as Baixada Fluminense, besides being located in a lowlands area that is prone to flooding, also has precarious basic sanitation infrastructure, factors that can lead to disasters. Interviews were conducted with the managers of the program to obtain data on the situation of each municipality studied. This information is analyzed and discussed from the standpoints of organizational capacity, structure and techniques of environmental health surveillance of each municipality (identified with letters “A” through “E” to preserve the respondents’ anonymity). The results indicate that, in terms of management capacity of the Vigidesastres program, municipality B has the best general conditions, while E has the worst.