By Olga Shevchencko
Water is essential for life. The amount of fresh water on earth is limited, and its quality is under continuous pressure. Protecting the quality of fresh water is important for the drinking water supply, food production and recreational water use. However, water quality can be compromised by the presence of infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards.
Credit http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/viewWater
Currently almost no one living in the developed country thinks about the availability of water for their needs. We are used to opening our tap at any time of the day or night to get as much clean water as we wish. Water is available to us in unlimited quantity and excellent quality. But the situation is incredibly different in developing countries, where the majority of people do not have access to clean water. A significant part of water-related diseases, such as water-related vector-borne diseases, is attributable to the way water recourses are managed and urbanized in the country.
How important is water
”All living organism, including human race need water for survival. Humans directly and indirectly consume water for drinking, cooking, and food production. We use it for bathing, household uses, industry and manufacturing, and waste disposal. Without food, a person in excellent physical condition might survive 6 weeks; without water, survival potential is measured in days.”
Existence of life on earth is possible because of water therefore there would be no human life without existence of water. Water is one of the main components of cells in our body and it forms roughly 70% of an adult’s total body weight. It composes a major portion of all vital organs such as brain, lungs, heart and others etc.
Water and Sanitation
http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
Water and Sanitation is one of the primary drivers of public health. Once every person can have a secure access to clean water and to adequate sanitation facilities a huge battle against all types of diseases could be won.
Credit: http://www.missionariesofafrica.org/challenges/water1.html
The quality of drinking-water is a powerful environmental determinant of health. Assurance of drinking-water safety is a foundation for the prevention and control of waterborne diseases.
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=25
Diseases
Water, sanitation and hygiene have significant impacts on both health and disease. According to water.org, approximately 3.5 million individuals die each year from water-relat diseases. Many illnesses, contaminants and injuries can be in water, sanitation, or hygiene are related. Waterborne diseases are caused by organisms that are directly spread through water. Water related illnesses can be acquired due to lack of water and then spread diseases.
Water supply, sanitation and health are directly related. Poor hygiene, inadequate quantities and quality of drinking water and lack of sanitation facilities cause millions of the world's poorest people to die from preventable diseases each year. Women and children are the main victims.
Estimates Of Morbidity And Mortality Of Water-Related Diseases
Disease |
Morbidity (episodes/yr.) (or as stated) |
Mortality (deaths/yr.) |
Relationship
of Disease to Water |
Diarrhoeal diseases |
1,000,000,000 |
3,300,000 |
Strongly related to unsanitary excreta disposal, poor personal and domestic hygiene, unsafe drinking water |
Infection with intestinal helminths |
1,500,000,000 (1) |
100,000 |
Strongly related to unsanitary excreta disposal, poor personal and domestic hygiene |
Schistosomiasis |
200,000,000 (1) |
200,000 |
Strongly related to unsanitary excreta disposal and absence of nearby sources of safe water |
Dracunculiasis |
100,000 |
-- |
Strongly related to unsafe drinking water |
Trachoma |
150,000,000 (3) |
-- |
Strongly related to lack of face washing, often due to absence of nearby sources of safe water |
Malaria |
400,000,000 |
1,500,000 |
Related to poor water management, water storage, operation of water points and drainage |
Dengue Fever |
1,750,000 |
20,000 |
Related to poor solid wastes management, water storage, operation of water points and drainage |
Poliomyelitis |
114,000 |
-- |
Related to unsanitary excreta disposal, poor personal and domestic hygiene, unsafe drinking water |
Trypanosomiasis |
275,000 |
130,000 |
Related to the absence of nearby sources of safe water |
Bancroftian filariasis |
72,800,000 (1) |
-- |
Related to poor water management, water storage, operation of water points and drainage |
Onchocerciasis |
17,700,000 (1,4) |
40,000 (5) |
Related to poor water management in large-scale projects |
Totals |
3.34 billion |
5.29 million |
|
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/water/water-crisis.html
Water-related disease
Some diseases related to bad water usage include diarrhea, polio, and malaria. These sickness are passed because people are not able to wash hands enough or wash cooking and eating utensils.
Malnutrition is one of the biggest health problems, particularly in developing countries. Water supply, sanitation and hygiene are directly impact on infectious disease, especially diarrhea.
Diarrhea is linked with infections such as malaria and measles. Chemical irrigation of the gut or non-infectious bowel disease can also result in diarrhea. Diarrhea is a symptom of infection caused by a crowd of bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms, most of which are spread by contaminated water.
Malaria—Is the world's most important parasitic disease. Malaria symptoms can include fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice and even death. It is transmitted by mosquitoes which breed in fresh or occasionally brackish water. It is contracted by people after being bitten by a malaria infected mosquito. Water based diseases and water-related vector-borne diseases can result from water supply projects (including dams and irrigation structures) that involuntarily provide habitats for mosquitoes and snails that are intermediate hosts of parasites that cause malaria, schistomsomisis, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis and Japanese encephalitis.
Polio--Is a disease that can cause flu-like symptoms and in more serious cases paralysis and even death. It is transmitted through viruses found in stools, so is commonly passed through drinking contaminated water and by not washing hands after using the bathroom.
Trachoma--Is a preventable infection of the eyes that may result in blindness , and is connected to poverty and poor sanitation. It affects those who have limited access to fresh water and healthcare. It is easily spread through communities through skin contact. It gives a yellow discharge from the eyes of the infected.
Waterborne diseases
“More than 1 billion people in the developing world live without safe drinking water or water for washing their food, hands and utensils before eating.”
These diseases happen to
individuals because of using contaminated water sources. Lakes and rivers that
people use for drinking and bathing water are often infected and the diseases
spread. Many parasites also live in the water, leading to massive infections. Contaminated water that is consumed may result in
water-borne diseases including viral hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, Guinea
Worm, dysentery and other diseases that cause
diarrhea and many more. Water borne illnesses can be caused not only by
drinking contaminated water, but also by eating products irrigated with
untreated water. For example, eating seafood caught in contaminated water, and
swimming in this polluted water only promotes these diseases.
Cholera. A disease spread by unsanitary conditions and lack of clean drinking water. It's symptoms include diarrhea, leg cramps and severe vomiting. Around 200,000 cases are reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) each year.
Hepatitis A. A liver diseases that cause millions of deaths each year, due to ingestion of contaminated water or food.
Tuberculosis. TB causes nearly two million deaths annually and the WHO estimates that nearly one billion people will be infected by 2020 if we do not provide better prevention procedures. It is a disease of the lungs and involves chest pain and a bad cough, along with other symptoms.
Guinea Worm is a disease that occurs mostly in Africa. It is caused by people drinking stagnant water containing a water flea. Inside the tiny water flea is the larvae of the Guinea worm, which when starts to grow in the human body can grow up to 3 feet and finally emerges a year later through a painful blister on the skin. It causes immense suffering and often long term effects.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/204946-about-intestinal-parasites/
Water scarcity diseases
Diseases such as Trachoma happen because of the lack of water. Trachoma is a highly contagious disease that causes blindness, especially where there is little water for peple to wash their hands and faces regularly. It is easily prevented, with just 1 liter of water a day being enough to keep a child's face clean and stop the high rate of infection. Many of the world’s poorest countries suffer from not being able to provide even this much for the people. Without adequate quantities of water for personal hygiene, skin and eye infections (trachoma) spread easily.
Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene account for a large part of the burden of illness and death in developing countries.
According to water.org.:
- Approximately 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year cause 2.2 million deaths, most-1.7 million-children under the age of five, about 15% of all under 5 deaths in developing countries.
- Diarrheal diseases account for 4.3% of the total global disease burden (62.5 million DALYs). An estimated 88% of this burden is attributable to unsafe drinking water supply, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. These risk factors are second, after malnutrition, in contributing to the global burden of disease.
- Intestinal worms infect about 10% of the population of the developing world, and can lead to malnutrition, anemia and retarded growth.
- 6 million people are blind from trachoma and the population at risk is about 500 million
- 300 million people suffer from malaria
- 200 million people are infected with schistosomiasis, 20 million of whom suffer severe consequences.
Water supply, sanitation and hygiene are about more than health. Saved time, particularly for women and children, is a major benefit. Beneficiaries of water and sanitation projects in India reported these benefits: less tension/conflict in homes and communities; community unity, self-esteem, women's empowerment (less harassment) and improved school attendance (WaterAid).
Most of the time, half of the world’s hospitals are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way.
It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhea related deaths in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene promotion is added, such as teaching proper hand washing, deaths could be reduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social development in countries where sanitation is a major cause of lost work and school days because of illness.
Children
- According to the WHO, every 8 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease-that's nearly 11,000 children per day.
- Globally, infectious diseases such as waterborne diseases are the number one killer of children under-five.
- The United Nations warns that 80% of diseases indeveloping countries result from unsafe water.
- More people die from unsafe water annually than from all forms of violence, including war.
- According to the WHO, the water consumed by more than one billion people - one out of five on Earth - is unsafe, potentially leading to disease and death.
- Global water consumption is doubling every 20 years, more than twice the rate of human population growth.
- Three-quarters of the earth's surface is covered by water, but a mere one percent of all the water is available for human use.
- In most countries, 30% of treated drinking water is lost from leaky pipes.
The lack of clean water for millions of women and children means spending hours each day searching for water and carrying it home. This exhausting task can cause damage to their heads, necks and spines, and leaves them with little time for productive work or education.
Efforts to improve water, sanitation and hygiene interact with each other to improve overall health. Access to sanitation, such as simple latrines in communities, prevents drinking water contamination from human waste and reduces infections.
The world's fresh water resources face increasing stress from water pollution and increased water demand. Access to safe drinking water is one of the most serious public health crises facing the world. More than one billion people are in great danger of disease and even death every time they take a sip of water.
Although many developed nations have dramatically reduced waterborne disease because of a century's use of disinfectants and reliable distribution systems, developing nations are still battling waterborne diseases, resulting in millions of deaths per year.
SOURCES CITED
http://mediaglobal.org/article/2010-03-04/nigerian-government-takes-action-against-water-sanitation-crisishttp://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/bathing/recreadis/en/index.html
http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3409400152.html
http://www.allaboutwater.org/water-facts.html
http://www.stir.org.au/stir/Content.aspx?topicID=478#1
http://www.amrefcanada.org/what-we-do/fight-disease/waterborne-diseases/