Contaminated water is the main reason for many diseases in Pakistan. Over 1 billion people lack availability and access to safe water sources. Even for those who do have access to water, unsanitary handling and storage translates into unsafe household water for drinking and food preparation. Unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene practices are responsible for the vast majority of diarrheal diseases and according to an estimate; waterborne diseases kill 230,000 children each year in Pakistan. The combination of unsafe water consumption and poor hygiene practices causes hardship due to resultant high costing treatments for water borne illnesses, decreased working days, and also contribute to lowering of educational achievement due to reduced school attendance by children. Pakistan has no formal water treatment in rural and peri-urban areas, and water contamination is a major problem. Poor hygiene practices such as lack of hand washing are common. In addition, generally speaking, there is lack of awareness about what "clean" water means. We have found that most people believe that if the water is clear, and does not smell, is good for drinking. This could present a barrier for the acceptance of household water treatment methods or community water filtration plants. People, particularly in the rural areas, are plagued with water-borne diseases, which is an immense financial burden in health care costs and also results in the loss of poor household incomes. Considering most people are day laborers, this loss perpetuates the cycle of poverty. Studies indicate that water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases are a significant economic burden in the country, with diarrheal diseases contributing to half of this economic burden. Few common and dangerous waterborne diseases in Pakistan are: • (ARI) Acute Respiratory Infection, • Cholera, • Malaria, • Typhoid fever, • Gastroenteritis, • Hepatitis A & E, • Polio, • Bacterial diarrhea, • Dysentery, • Scabies, • Goiter, • Tuberculosis. saharo-pk.org
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 09:05:58 +0000
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