Approximately 21% of communicable diseases are waterborne and 75% of water-related deaths are of infants under five years. Access to safe and adequate drinking water and adequate sanitation facility for communities has been recognized as a leading step towards universalization of health care in India.

Water and Public Health:

• The basic physiological requirement for drinking water has been estimated at 2 liters per person per day.
• UNICEF estimates the contribution of water-related diseases to almost 4 million child deaths each year globally.
• According to one study in The Lancet, 105,000 children lost their lives in 2015 to water-induced diarrhoea.
• Official NRDWP data reveals that around 60,000 of all habitations are exposed to water contaminated by arsenic and fluoride.
• A study of quality affected habitations by category of contaminants shows that as many as 4.07 Cr rural population are suffering from water contamination that varies from fluoride, arsenic, iron, salinity, nitrate, heavy metals, etc.
• India loses 73 million working days due to water-borne diseases.

Transmission of Diseases:

• Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as Cholera, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Typhoid, and Polio.
• In addition to these water-transmitted diseases, there are water-borne, water-related and water-washed diseases.
• Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks.
• The water borne diseases are considered public health problems due to a number of reasons:
  • Their potential to cause large outbreaks.
  • High disease burden.
  • For being major causes of admissions and outpatient visits to the hospitals and health facilities mainly amongst young children.
  • For many water borne diseases, no specific treatment is available and prevention is the best approach.
  • These diseases spread rapidly and may cause panic in the community.

Challenges:

• Availability of water also affects the effective functioning of healthcare facilities.
  • In India, in March 2017, nearly 20% of Health Sub-Centres and 4% of Primary Health Centres in rural India did not have access to running water.
  • In 2015, WHO & UNICEF jointly developed WASH FIT (Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool) to support small, primary health care facilities in low- and middle-income settings.
• When water comes from improved and more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort in physically collecting it, meaning they can be productive in other ways.
• Better water sources also mean less expenditure on health, as people are less likely to fall ill and incur medical costs, and are better able to remain economically productive.
• Children are particularly at risk from water-related diseases.

Conclusion:

As the global development community and India is focusing on advancing universal health coverage and addressing the social determinants of health, improved provision of safe drinking water should be prioritised.