Clean water and sanitation are paramount for public health and can be fundamental to child health care and preventing malaria. Bristol Water’s ‘Water for Life’ is their commitment to global health objectives, exemplifying the interconnecting and significant relationship between clean water, sanitation, child health care, and malaria prevention. This article outlines the importance of water and sanitation on child health care, and preventing malaria, and why investment in these areas must continue to be prioritised for global health provision.
The Connection Between Clean Water, Sanitation, and Child Health
Reduction of Waterborne Diseases
- Impact on Child Health: Access to clean water reduces substantially the incidence of water-related diseases that contribute significantly to poor child health. Recurrent bouts of diarrhea, cholera, and dysentery are harmful to children because their immune systems have not sufficiently developed to kick in quickly and keep these symptoms at bay.
- Stats and Samples: Improved water supply and sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa has led to a decrease in child deaths from waterborne diseases from 17 percent in 1990 to 8 percent in 2008. This is one of the findings of the World Health Organization (WHO). Improving access to safe drinking water has the potential to prevent about 1.5 million child deaths per year, according to the WHO.
Promotion of Hygiene and Sanitation
- Child Health: Appropriate sanitation facilities (including latrines and waste management systems that prevent contamination of soil and water) help to keep ‘germs’ out of the body, while hand washing with soap complements the impact of treated drinking water by helping keep ‘germs’ out of the body.
- Case Study: In countries such as Bangladesh, sanitation and hygiene education programs have dramatically cut the deaths of children from their most common Keynesian term: involuntary unemployment.
Nutritional Benefits
- Child Health: Gets children access to clean water so that they can stay hydrated and have a better nutritional status. Water contaminated with micro-organisms can reduce nutrient absorption in the body, leading to malnutrition and lower immunity, which increases susceptibility to illness.
- Example: Wherever the water and sanitation infrastructure has been improved, children are less likely to suffer from malnutrition and stunting, as demonstrated by several health studies in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
The Role of Clean Water and Sanitation in Malaria Prevention
Elimination of Breeding Sites
Effect on the prevention of malaria: Mosquitoes that spread malaria breed in stagnant water. Initiatives that address clean water, such as adequate waste disposal and drainage systems, help to remove standing water, thus reducing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and the incidence of malaria in turn.
For instance, in Africa, malaria control programs with integrated water management, such as filling or draining of stagnant water bodies, can help reduce malaria incidence.
Enhanced Effectiveness of Malaria Interventions
Does it help prevent malaria? Yes. When combined with other strategies for carrying out malaria prevention, such as using insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying, improved access to water and sanitation becomes effective as a part of malaria control programs. Better living conditions help keep people out of mosquito reach, in addition to these other life-saving strategies.
Case study: Pilot projects in Rwanda that have integrated clean water and sanitation with malaria prevention programs show significant reductions in malaria incidence.
Reduced Disease Burden
Impacts on preventing malaria: Reducing the prevalence of secondary infections and related illnesses associated with poor water supply and sanitation unburdens the overall disease burden, allowing individuals to henceforth better cope with malaria.
For instance, where adequate water and sanitation infrastructure has been installed, the incidence of water-borne disease and malaria has decreased, and public health in general improved.
Challenges and Solutions
Infrastructure Development
- How to respond: Poor quality drinking water and sanitation infrastructure are still major obstacles to encouraging poor health in many settings. To build and maintain such infrastructure can be expensive.
- Answer: Collaboration between governments, international organizations, and local communities is needed to create durable infrastructure. Developing affordable water filtration apparatus and sanitation systems are some of the many developmental projects we can invest in.
Behavioral Change
A challenge remains, even despite access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities, as behavioral practices, such as lack of proper hand washing, inappropriate waste disposal, and local practices that permit open defecation, can mitigate against health benefits.
Solution: Practicing proper hygiene and general awareness must be encouraged through education and awareness campaigns. Community empowerment and behavior change programs can help understand and follow hygiene practices.
Equity and Accessibility
- Challenge: Ensuring access to and availability of water and sanitation systems for all people, including vulnerable ones, in marginalized or remote settings remains a challenge.
- Solution: Targeted policies and interventions seeking to reach underserved populations can be of help; and, finally, tackling some of the issues at hand might require community-level efforts and partnerships that come nearest to those most in need.
Clean water and sanitation services reduce the burden of disease and promote healthy living arrangements for children. Safe water and sanitation services help prevent the spread of waterborne diseases, improve personal hygiene, and reduce malaria exposure in children. Investing in these services improves health outcomes for children, advances public health goals, and furthers sustainable development.
With more investment and planning to overcome these physical and behavioral constraints in areas with inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, more children will have the opportunity to lead healthier lives. Clean water and sanitation are a key platform to overcome entrenched disease and malnutrition. Building on the existing collaborative efforts and growing investments from partners, we can and must do better to forge a healthier future.
