Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - June 2004
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Low-tech approaches saving millions in Third World
By Tom Davey
Water For People was the
subject of the keynote
address at the Water Environment Association of Ontario's (WEAO) 33rd
Annual Conference and
OPCEA Exhibition at London’s
Convention Centre, April 18-20, 2004.
Steve Werner, Executive Director of
the organization, Water for People,
made a moving presentation on the
vital role of sanitation in the provision
of safe water in the Third World. Water
projects also have dramatically
improved women’s rights, he stressed,
and his presentation showed how the
status of women substantially
improved following completion of
water projects.
Many projects shown were both
low-tech and low-cost, yet they have
proven to dramatically cut back deaths
and crippling diseases. Technology
appropriate to the cultures and geography
were employed which had proved
very effective.
Mr. Werner said an estimated 2.4
billion people lacked adequate sanitation,
while 1.2 billion are without
access to safe water. Some 90% of
wastewater in developing countries is
discharged into rivers and streams
without any treatment and, worldwide,
a child dies from a preventable waterborne
illness about once every 10 seconds.
Water-borne diseases include
cholera, typhoid, bacillary dysentery,
infectious hepatitis, and giardias, while
major diseases caused by lack of water
include (water-washed diseases) scabies,
skin sepsis and ulcers, yaws, leprosy,
trachoma, dysenteries and ascariasis.
Diarrhea causes 2 million deaths
per year, mostly amongst children
under the age of five (WHO, 2002).
These deaths represent approximately
15% of all child deaths under the age
of five in developing countries.
Water is implicated in 80% of all
sickness and disease worldwide, while
19% of deaths from infectious diseases
worldwide are water-related and water
related diseases contribute to nearly 4
million child deaths each year. One
encouraging statistic noted that clean
water, sanitation and hygiene interventions
reduce diarrheal disease on average
by between one-quarter and one-third.
Intestinal worms infect about 10%
of the population of the developing
world. Ascariasis, one of the most
common human parasitic infections,
can lead to malnutrition, anemia and
retarded growth, depending upon the
severity of the infection in the human
host. Some 6 million people are blinded
by trachoma and the population at
risk from this disease is approximately
500 million, while 200 million people
in the world are infected with schistosomiasis,
of which 20 million suffer
severe consequences.
Arsenic in drinking water is a major
public health threat. According to
research data on wells in Bangladesh,
20% have high levels of arsenic (above
0.05 mg/l). Cholera is a worldwide
problem that can be prevented by
ensuring that everyone has access to
safe drinking water, adequate excreta
disposal systems and good hygiene
behaviours. Water-related disease
transmission occurs by drinking fecally
contaminated water. Common fecaloral
diseases include diarrhea, typhoid,
viral hepatitis A, dysentery and dracunculiasis
(guinea-worm).
Malaria is a prevalent water-related
disease and is transmitted by mosquitoes
which breed in fresh and standing
water. Scabies and ringworm, both
water-washed diseases, are contagious
skin infections that spread rapidly
when clean water is not available for
personal hygiene.
Adequate quantities of safe water
and good sanitation facilities are necessary
conditions for healthy living,
but their impact will depend upon how
they are used. Three key hygiene
behaviours of greatest likely benefit
are: hand washing, safe disposal of
children’s feces and safe water handling
and storage. Repeatedly, he
stressed how inexpensive low-tech
projects could result in dramatic
improvements to human health.
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