Waterborne Illness

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.

water diseases alone account for more than three million deaths each year. We help Africa by

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.

Many populations, the majority being in Africa, face many water-borne diseases mainly due to pollution of water resources. The option then becomes to either drink polluted water or not have anything at all. Continual Human development such as population growth and industrial growth have further drained water resources, causing a shortage of drinking water. As a result, there are many conflicts over ownership of water resources and these lead to injuries or fatalities.(2) As mentioned before, this shows why it is so important to find a solution to the issue of water shortage.

People in Developing countries drink pond, stream, pond water which could be contaminated by animals and people. In third world countries they’re not really educated so they don’t know that the water they drink is bad for them. Another way they get water is by digging deep holes until they find water, it may be cleaner than the surface water but there would be still be a chance that it could be contaminated, which could end up giving them diseases and even death. 884 million people in the world don’t have water that is safe to drink. Also more 80 percent of sewage in third world countries contaminates their water source. Schools also don’t clean/safe water for kids to drink. In developing countries women and children spend 6 hours every day trying to collecting water and on

water diseases alone account for more than three million deaths each year. We help Africa by

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.

Unfortunately, for individuals in the developing world resources are lacking. It is individuals in these situations that are extremely vulnerable to potential exposure. Climate change is also impacting disease transmission. Large environmental areas are shrinking due to urban sprawl which is leading to increased populations density’s, increased pathogen load, decreased distributions, and a greater prevalence of disease (Mills, Gage, Khan, 2010). Thus, larger numbers of individuals are living in close proximity of disease vectors.

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

     Transmission of the parasite can occur in several different ways. Direct transmission can occur by handling infected animal or human feces. One quarter of reported direct transmission infections occurred by direct contact with feces, while the rest were reported to have happened by person to person contact (Donnelly & Stentiford, 1997).

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.

It is an essential resource for sustaining life as well as central to agriculture and rural development, and is intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of people across the world. According to the World Bank, (2010) report, water is a scarce resource with multiple interwoven uses that range from drinking water, energy, irrigation, manufacturing things, transport of people and goods among others. The report further states that, more than one-sixth of the Worlds’ population does not have access to safe drinking water, with 80% living in rural areas thus access to water cannot not be guaranteed globally.