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"Safe water supply and adequate Dr Gro Harlem
Brundtland |
Global burden of disease from water, sanitation and hygiene
3.4 million people, mostly children, die annually from water-related diseases.
2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation include the poorest in the world.
1.1 billion people lack access to even improved water sources.
Access to safe water supply and sanitation is fundamental for better health, poverty alleviation and development.
Diarrhoea
2.1 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera) associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. The majority are children in developing countries.
Water, hygiene and sanitation interventions reduce diarrhoea incidence by 26% and mortality by 65%.
Malaria
1 million people - mainly children under 5 - die of malaria each year.
300 million people suffer from malaria every year, 90% of the disease burden is in Africa and South of the Sahara.
Intensified irrigation, dams and other water related projects contribute importantly to this disease burden.
Better management of water resources reduces transmission of malaria and other vector borne diseases.
Schistosomiasis
200 million people are infected with schistosomiasis.
20 million suffer severe consequences.
The disease is still found in 74 countries of the world.
Basic sanitation reduces the disease by up to 77%.
Arsenic
35 - 77 million from a total of 125 million in Bangladesh are at risk of drinking contaminated water.
At least 100 000 cases of debilitating skin lesions caused by arsenic are believed to have occurred in Bangladesh.
Arsenic contamination of ground water is a global problem. It has been found in many countries, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Thailand and the United States.
Trachoma
6 million people are visually impaired by Trachoma.
146 million are threatened by blindness.
500 million people are at risk from Trachoma.
Trachoma can be prevented by improving sanitary conditions and hygiene practices.
Japanese encephalitis
20% of persons with Japanese encephalitis with clinical symptoms die.
35% have permanent brain damage.
Improved management for irrigation of water resources reduces transmission of disease, in South, South East, and East Asia.
Fluorosis
It is estimated that nearly 28 million people suffer from chronic fluorosis primarily due to exposure to fluoride in drinking-water, in China alone.
Removal of excessive fluoride from drinking-water reduces crippling fluorosis.
Hepatitis
1.5 million cases of clinical hepatitis A every year.
For more information, visit www.who.int/phe or email bravardf@who.int
source: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/General/factsandfigures.htm 10sep02
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