Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene May -June 2017 | Page 39

Water & Health
water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. Children in
developing countries typically have four to five bouts of
diarrhoea a year. Even when they don’t kill, these diarrhoea
episodes can physically and mentally stunt children,
affecting them for the rest of their lives. By weakening
children, diarrhoea increases mortality rates from other
opportunistic diseases, including ARI (acute respiratory
infections). ARI and diarrhoea together account for two-
thirds of all child deaths worldwide.
“Sanitation is the single most important medical advance
since 1840” — British Medical Journal reader survey
Millions of other children are made sick, weakened or are
disabled by other water- and sanitation-related diseases
and infections including cholera, malaria, trachoma,
schistosomiasis, worm infestations and guinea worm
disease. And in a growing number of countries, natural
or man-made pollution of water sources with dangerous
contaminants threatens millions of people.
WASH and education
A high percentage of children suffer from intestinal
infections caused by parasites as a result of poor hygiene
and inadequate sanitation. Parasites consume nutrients,
aggravate malnutrition, retard children’s physical
development and result in poor school attendance and
performance. Household chores, such as fetching water,
keep many girls out of school. Also, the lack of separate
and decent sanitation and washing facilities in schools
discourages girls from attending school full time and forces
some to drop out. The majority of the 121 million school-
age children not in school are girls.
WASH and development
Poor water and sanitation exact a heavy economic cost in
terms of health spending, loss of productivity and labour
diversion. If everyone in the world had access to basic
water and sanitation services, the reduction in diarrhoeal
disease alone would save the health sector $11.6 billion
in treatment costs and people would gain over 5.6 billion
productive days per year. When the potential economic
gains of providing basic, low-cost water and sanitation
facilities are added together, the developing world could
save as much as $263 billion a year (see box).
WASH and HIV/AIDS
Promoting improved hygiene practices and increasing
access to water and sanitation facilities helps to reduce
opportunistic infections among people living with HIV/
AIDS. Better access to facilities also reduces the burden
on households caring for AIDS-affected family members.
Less time spent on fetching water allows caregivers – who
are usually women and girls – more time and energy for
coping with the disease or for working outside the home.
Appropriate sanitation also helps to ensure that AIDS
sufferers, many