Vulnerability, health and disasters in São Paulo coast (Brazil): Challenges for a sustainable development

A large part of the world’s population lives in cities, with growing estimates for the coming years. Many agglomerations are in areas of greater vulnerability, such as the coast. Demographic growth demands a larger area, with expansion of public services and more local infrastructure. Economic growth, usually confused with development, can increase the risks of epidemics and disasters, when people start to live in risk areas and there is inequality in the provision of basic services.

This study, within the scope of the joint evolution of the health sector and sustainable development as strategies to reduce vulnerability, makes a methodological cut for the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with analyzes of the connections with socio-environmental disasters data. The municipalities in this study present a good structure for monitoring the risk of disasters, but it is not enough to promote a sustainable development.