Water Pollution In Africa

Unsafe water supplies are often contaminated with infectious agents, toxic chemicals, and radiological hazards. In 2000, the World Health Organization and UNICEF identified some 2.4 billion people who did not have basic sanitation facilities, and 1.1 billion people without a safe drinking water supply. (Wagner, 2009) Some communities experienced diarrhea, caused by a variety of parasites, viruses, and bacteria that infect people as a result of contaminated drinking water or poor hygiene. In India, more than 500,000 children die from diarrhea every year. Like other tropical diseases, when diarrhea does not kill, it weakens, leaving people more susceptible to other infections, such as tuberculosis and HIV. (Whitman, 2008).

Some of the most emerging and re-emerging agents of the waterborne diseases are; Cholera which is caused by the ingestion of water that is infected by Vibrio Cholerae. This is a painless form of diarrhea characterized by watery stool. Dysentery which is caused by Escherichia Coli. Typhoid that is caused by Salmonella typhi which is usually accompanied by fever is yet another disease. Gastroenteritis diseases caused by Giardia and Cryptosporodia and some species of hepatitis are also known to be caused by water (CDC, 2011). These disease causing agents find their way into the human body through infected water that people from the poorer communities in Uganda use and have no option of cleaner water.

Main Point: Third world countries lack accessibility to clean water exposing them to disease and harmful toxins that result in 2.4 million deaths annually (Bartram, 2010).

Around the world people are suffering from the problem of having a safe and clean water, there are more than 633 million people lack access to safe water. Remote countries in Africa are mostly the victim of having unsanitary water sources.

Clean water is essential to our basic needs as human beings and has been acknowledged as a basic human right according to the UN as of July 28, 2010. Still, 1 in 9 (782 million) people don’t have access to clean water, 1 in 3 (2.5 billion) don’t have access to adequate sanitation which results in the spread of often fatal and preventable disease. In a world where 2 in 5 people own a smartphone, it’s easy to forget that for some people even the most basic necessities are hard to come by. Approximately 3.5 million people die every year due to inadequate water supplies. Access to sanitation and safe drinking water could save the lives of 1.5 million children each year.

Lack of water and conflict with water rights have instigated wars and political tension especially in the Middle East and Africa, as well as promoting unlikely cooperation to ensure its availability. Also, natural water bodies like lakes mark international

Two out of every five people living in Sub-Saharan Africa lack safe water. A baby there is 500 times more likely to die from water-related illness than one from the United States. This is a serious ongoing issue that requires the rest of the world to take action. Water spreads diseases easily if the necessary precautions are not taken. Many developing African countries don’t have sewage treatment, or the people don’t have methods to filter and disinfect. Once a person is sick either there is no way to cure them, or medical care is too expensive, so they are left untreated with a high risk of death. Although many believe that the fight for sanitary water in Africa is insurmountable, people in these developing countries can overcome their challenge to access clean water and avoid water-borne diseases through proper sewage treatment facilities, universal water filtration and medical care.

A major challenge and cause of serious medical issues in Sub-Saharan Africa is the lack of access to a clean water supply. There are 345 million people that lack access to water in Africa. Unfortunately, when water is available it is high in contamination. When wells are built and water sanitation facilities are developed, they cannot be maintained properly to due to limited financial resources. Water quality testing is not performed as often as necessary and the people are unaware that the water may not be safe to drink. Oftentimes, when a source of water has been provided, the quantity of water is often given more attention over the quality of. Lack of clean drinking is the leading cause of diarrheal diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa and causes 7.7% of deaths in Africa. Diarrhea is caused by numerous bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms most of which can be spread by contaminated water. The importance of diarrheal diseases has mostly been overlooked. Through UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) there have been some accomplishments during the

USnews.com finds that India is an area where a large majority of the population do not have access to clean water. Indians have to spend 62 more cents than the British for their water, which is estimated to be 20 percent of their average income. These are the circumstances that they have to live with in, where the only alternative is to use contaminated water. Those who choose to do so often face a risk of dying from an illness, more often from diarrhea. Exposure to dirty water accounts for the death of 140,000 kids in India.

Unclean water is a growing phenomenon that is immensely occurring in Latin America. Water is an important necessity in life. There are over 70 million people who have no access to clean water. Many families in Latin America cannot afford to send their children to school, so the children drop out of school to help work at the home. Many of the children who stay home to work walk for hours to get to the nearest water source, and most of the time, the water is unclean and not safe to drink. The unclean water is the only water accessible to families in Latin America. With the unclean water available, sanitation was not. It is very rare to find any form of sanitized water in most households in Latin America. Over 100 million people are not

The water crisis in Africa has many ill effects including diminished health, poor education and low productivity. Currently 319 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access reliable clean drinking water. When you don't have access to clean water your are much more likely to be exposed to diarrheal illnesses, which cause dehydration, starvation and eventually death. Currently 62% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population lives in rural areas. However, there are many negative consequences to living in a rural area. One main reason widespread access to clean water has not been achieved yet is because water is a very challenging material to transport and transporting water in rural areas with minimal infrastructure does not make transportation

Water is an important component to sustaining life. Water is used for many things. Along with sustaining homeostasis in living organisms, it is used for agriculture and hygiene practices. Without clean and fresh water, ecosystems and human life are threatened. Many people across the globe are either fighting for clean water or are using it in their everyday life. This lack of equal obtainment of water, is the number one thing effecting the world.

Water contamination is one of the reasons are health and many other people’s health is not good. Half of the world’s hospital beds are being used for people that are suffering from a water related disease. Globally, about 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source that is contaminated with feces. Contaminated water can transmit many different diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio. Eighty-eight percent of diarrhea are estimated to be attributable from unsafe drinking water.

According to Dosomething.org, there are 884 million people who lack safe drinking water. Water related diseases take More than 840,000 lives each year. Diseases such as diarrhea

One of the most important natural resources we have on this planet is water. Water covers roughly 70 percent of our planet and is the very foundation for every single species on earth. We as humans, rely on water more than any other resource on the planet and we simply can’t live without it. Although water is abundant around the world, clean water for millions of people is inaccessible. Around the world, there are people struggling to get water yet along clean water and it greatly affects our health. Improving clean water supply and sanitation, and better access to clean water resources, can increase countries’ economic development and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction and overall people’s health.