Dr. Satesh Bidaisee
Water makes up more than two-thirds of the human body; the human brain is made up of 95 percent water, blood is 82 percent water, and lungs are 90 percent water. Water is vital component to every living organism in the world, especially the human species. More often than not clean water is not accessible to many human beings worldwide. This is quite alarming because of all the detrimental aspects that are associated with unclean water that is often used. Many individuals would rather consume and utilize unsanitary water than none at all. Take for example the alarming number of people that drink unsafe water worldwide, a staggering two billion people.
The importance of water is critical, however even more importantly is the concept of clean water. There are a number of different infectious agents detrimental to human health that grow in contaminated/unsanitary water which can cause a number of waterborne illnesses; such as cholera, hepatitis, typhoid, and diarrhea. Take for example, diarrheal diseases from cholera, this agent and illness is responsible for 1.8 million deaths worldwide. These deaths can be preventable with the proper knowledge, education, and infrastructure put in place.
There are a number of different factors that contribute in the accessibility of clean water. These factors include physical, demographic, geopolitical and lastly economic/ socioeconomic status .
The community is most effected due not being able to access clean water in terms of health, hunger, and education. The two main factors that hold communities back from their bright futures are illnesses from drinking unsafe water and the time required in fetching water due to access being an issue. If clean water becomes more accessible for populations, it can be safe to assume that health will also increase; this in turn will decrease the time lost to sickness. If you have less sick individuals, then they are more likely to stay working which can increase economic development. Hunger within the community can also be maintained and controlled by having access to clean water. Food security can be established which is caused because there is less crop loss due to caring for fields in the proper manner.
Not only is clean water needed to avoid infectious agents from deteriorating life but it is also an absolute necessity for the physiological functions of the body.
Having access to clean water is often neglected and not understood completely. It is crucial that attention is brought to this topic because of how many innocent people are dying every year. Initial goal needs to be implemented my government officials and policy makers to look out for those individuals that lack access to clean water. Since it is harder for underprivileged parties to access water, planning and strategizing need to be incorporated into the system to ensure everyone has the access available. Resources should be rearranged and reformulated strategies should be adopted to benefit the disadvantaged groups; this will allow for the improvement of access for the low income populations and make a huge difference in standards of living for them.
Finally, education must be set as priority to create a new mindset for the people. Education on all levels, including health and non-health related, must be emphasized to the citizens of lesser developed countries. Investing into the population by fiscal means and informational will undoubtedly help the health of all individuals in the society. There is a relationship between education and health; education can open opportunities for better health as well as poor health can hinder the education process. This ties in closely with the roles of Public Health; to lead to prevention of disease, to prolonging life, and to promoting health.
The public health of people that do not have adequate clean water is at risk and needs attention from the government officials and leaders that run and operate the country. The country’s health can be fixed but hard work, policy reform, program implementation, education, and a shift to prevention are necessary.