This exercise was developed by Keith Johnson, KUMC Medical Student, and instructor at the KCK Saturday Science and Math Academy


Clean fresh water is essential for many organism and dictates where organism live. It is a renewable resource as long as it is not polluted contaminated or overused. Water can serve as a cleansing agent or be a source vehicle for bacteria, protozoa and viruses that can make humans sick.

Diarrhea remains in the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way.

• 88% of cases of diarrhea worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.
• 90% of all deaths caused by diarrheal diseases are children under 5 years of age, mostly in developing countries.

It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhea-related deaths in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene promotion is added, such as teaching proper hand washing, deaths could be reduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social development in countries where sanitation is a major cause of lost work and school days because of illness.

Water can be treated with simple bacteria killing methods such as boiling, chemical disinfection and filtration. Water is often sold in stores in distilled form, as purified water and spring water.

 Discuss the following:

What are the symptoms of diarrhea? How do you cure it?

Information to use in your discussion:

World Health Organization water related diseases: Diarrhea

Clean fresh water is essential for many organism and dictates where organism live. It is a renewable resource as long as it is not polluted, contaminated or overused. Water can serve as a cleansing agent, or it can be a source vehicle for bacteria, protozoa and viruses that can make humans sick.

Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way.

• 88% of cases of diarrhea worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.
• 90% of all deaths caused by diarrheal diseases are children under 5 years of age, mostly in developing countries.

It is estimated that improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrhea-related deaths in young children by more than one-third. If hygiene promotion is added, such as teaching proper hand washing, deaths could be reduced by two thirds. It would also help accelerate economic and social development in countries where sanitation is a major cause of lost work and school days because of illness.

Water can be treated with simple bacteria killing methods such as boiling, chemical disinfection and filtration. Water is often sold in stores in distilled form, as purified water and spring water.

 

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Facts and Figures on Water Quality and Health

The global health challenge: preventing water quality-related disease

1. No safe drinking-water: almost 1 billion people lack access to an improved supply
2. Diarrhoeal disease: 2 million annual deaths attributable to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene
3. Cholera: more than 50 countries still report cholera to WHO
4. Cancer and tooth/skeletal damage: millions exposed to unsafe levels of naturally-occurring arsenic and fluoride
5. Schistosomiasis: an estimated 260 million infected
6. Emerging challenges: increasing use of wastewater in agriculture is important for livelihood opportunities, but also associated with serious public health risks

The Health Opportunities: Implementing good practice

1. 4% of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene
2. A growing evidence base on how to target water quality improvements to maximize health benefits
3. Better tools and procedures to improve and protect drinking-water quality at the community and urban level, for example through Water Safety Plans
4. Availability of simple and inexpensive approaches to treat and safely store water at the household-level

 

Source: World Health Organization (WHO); http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/diseases/en/

 

 

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References:

UN. 2007. International Year of Sanitation Global Launch

UN Water. 2008. Gender, Water and Sanitation: A Policy Brief.

UN Water. 2008. Tackling a Global Crisis: International Year of Sanitation 2008

Diarhhoea: Why children are still dying and what can be done. UNICEF, WHO 2009