Housing Risk Factors of Four Tropical Neglected Diseases: A Brief Review of the Recent Literature.

Alongside peace, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources and social justice, shelter is a prerequisite for health. According to international human rights law, everyone is entitled to an adequate standard of living, which includes adequate housing. Adequate housing, including access to water and sanitation, plays a critical role in the prevention and management of neglected tropical diseases, which affect over 1 billion people worldwide. Inadequate housing conditions represent a risk factor for many of them, e.g., Chagas disease that affects 6-8 million people worldwide, visceral leishmaniasis that kills 20,000-30,000 people/year, lymphatic filariasis which threatens 859 million people worldwide or dengue that has increased 8-10 fold over the last two decades. Vector control strategies for the above-mentioned diseases have shown their effectiveness and should include systematic and repetitive in-house spraying and individual protection (e.g., impregnated nets), as well as better-quality construction material and techniques and better sanitation infrastructures and practices. Access to adequate housing is a basic human right. The violation of the right to adequate housing may affect the enjoyment of other human rights. Access to adequate housing can strengthen (and facilitate access to) other basic human rights, such as the rights to work, health, security, and education.

O direito à moradia: reflexões sobre habitabilidade e dignidade / The right to adequate housing: considerations about habitability and dignity / El derecho a la vivienda: reflexiones sobre habitabilidad y dignidad

Resumo Com base no pressuposto de que o direito à moradia é um princípio básico estabelecido em tratados internacionais e na própria Constituição brasileira, este ensaio tem três objetivos: situar historicamente a introdução deste princípio no contexto internacional e nacional; sua reelaboração a partir do conceito de adequação habitacional e a translação, no contexto brasileiro, da discussão sobre moradia adequada para moradia digna. Com este intuito, foram analisados documentos considerados centrais nesse debate, tendo como ponto de partida a Declaração de Direitos Humanos de 1948. Como método, a discussão está assentada na análise de documentos de domínio público e pautada na perspectiva da psicologia social discursiva. Como conclusão, consideramos que a translação de moradia adequada para moradia digna tem por base situar o direito à moradia como exercício de cidadania, com o uso de moradia digna para indicar que o que está em pauta é a possibilidade de ter uma vida digna.

Abstract Starting from the premise that the right to adequate housing is a basic principle established in international treaties as well as in the Brazilian Constitution, the aim of this essay is threefold: to trace the introduction of this principle in the international and national contexts; to follow its further elaboration in debates on adequate housing and to examine the translation of the term "adequate housing" into "dignified housing" in Brazilian Portuguese. National and international documents that are considered central to this debate were analyzed, taking as a starting point the United Nation's 1948 Declaration of Human Rights. Methodologically, the analysis is based on discursive social psychology discussion of the characteristics of public domain documents. We conclude that the translation of adequate housing to dignified housing, in Brazil, is the result of placing the right to a house as an exercise in citizenship, with the use of the expression dignified housing serving to indicate that what is at stake is the dignity of life itself.

Resumen Con base en el supuesto de que el derecho a la vivienda es un principio básico establecido por tratados internacionales y por la propia Constitución brasileña, este ensayo tiene tres objetivos: situar históricamente la introducción de este principio en el contexto internacional y nacional; su reelaboración a partir del concepto de adecuación habitacional y la traslación, en el contexto brasileño, de la discusión sobre vivienda adecuada para vivienda digna. Con este propósito, se analizaron documentos considerados centrales en ese debate, teniendo como punto de partida la Declaración de Derechos Humanos de 1948. La discusión está asentada en el análisis de documentos de dominio público y pautada en la perspectiva de la psicología social discursiva. Concluimos que la traslación de vivienda adecuada para vivienda digna tiene por base situar el derecho a la vivienda como ejercicio de la ciudadanía, con el uso de vivienda digna para indicar que lo que está en pauta es la posibilidad de tener una vida digna.