According to the CDC and USAID Water and Development
Strategy approximately 800 million people do not have access to improved dependable
clean drinking water source, with about 2.5 billion lacking access to modern
sanitation. The disease burden associated with unsafe drinking water and
sanitation is great. Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of
morbidity and mortality especially among children under age 5. The concept of clean
water and safe sanitation is essential to health, as water and sanitation
services have significantly improved health and engendered many secondary
benefits.
The adverse health impacts attributable to lack of
water and sanitation are significant. Reliable safe water at home prevents not
only diarrhea but guinea worm, waterborne arsenicosis, and waterborne outbreaks
of diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and cryptosporidiosis. Girls are more
likely to be responsible for collecting water for their family, making it difficult
for them to attend school and thus forgo potential opportunities to engage in
small business endeavors. Initiatives such as tricycle carts generally
encourages boys to collect the water, thus freeing time for the women to engage
in more productive uses.
Researchers should focus on the sustainability of
water and sanitation services by developing strategies that holistically
address the influence of the environment, culture, and economics on the
implementation and long-term maintenance of treatment systems. For
interventions to be effective in reducing risk and blocking pathogen pathways,
they must consider the environmental, cultural, and economic conditions of a
particular community. Interventions should consists of these steps:
point-of-use treatment of contaminated water, safe water storage, improved
hygiene, behavior change techniques.
The majority of people who die due to lack of access
to clean and dependable drinking water as well as diarrheal disease are mostly
children. Access to safe water and sanitation
is not a privilege it’s a right.
Chris, I agree that access to clean water is a right, not a privilege. It is awful that in the 21st century, not everyone has clean water. Not even in the United States! Flint, Michigan has proven this to us and we are supposed to be a developed country. The women and girls being forced to spend large portions of their day collecting water, is not right other. Access to education is another right that has been overlooked. Surely, a system can be developed to allow easier retrieval for the developing countries’ population. I believe programs are looking to improve clean water in these developing countries; the improvements are simply really slow.
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