Water and Health
Every year millions of people die from water-related diseases and poor sanitation. These deaths are responsible for 80% of all deaths in developing countries. Through education and the provision of clean, safe drinking water these deaths can be prevented and do not hinge on new medical technologies or vaccine discoveries.
Investment in water and sanitation are among the most powerful preventive medicines available to us as we fight infectious diseases.
Just a small sampling of waterborne diseases in developing countries...
Tyhoid Fever 22 million caes annually 200,000 deaths | Bacillary Dysentery 164 million cases annually 600,000 deaths | Rotavirus 2 million hospitalized annually 500,000 deaths |
Cholera 3 million caes annually 120,000 deaths | Schistosomiasis 200 million people affected | Amoebic Dysentery 50 million infections annually 100,000 deaths |
Giarda 200 million infections annually | Trachoma 80 million active cases 6 million people blinded | Hepatitus A 1 million infections annually |
Water Advocates
A common misconception is that people in developing countries actually get use to drinking dirty water because that is all they have ever had to drink. In reality nothing could be further from the truth. People can be infected over and over again by giardia, infectious bacteria, intestinal worms and parasites and can die from life-threatening waterborne diseases such as Typhoid and Cholera.
According to Water Advocates water and sanitation related diseases trigger 4 billion cases of diarrhea annually and 2 billion infections by parasitic worms - stripping bodies of the capacity to absorb nutrients from food.
As a result, half of the world's malnutrition is caused by these water and sanitation related diseases. The prescription for malnutrition is just not good food but clean, safe water and sanitation.
The growing global water crisis is one of the most serious public health concerns facing us, and deserving far more attention and resources than it has received so far.