About 1.6 million Americans don’t have running water or indoor plumbing, and many don’t have access to wastewater treatment. Every child has the right to grow up in a safe and clean environment, and access to sanitary resources allows these children to thrive and grow up healthily. COVID-19 has revealed the significance of hand-washing in preventing the spread of disease. However, this puts children and families living in areas without access to clean water at highest risk. These include rural areas, urban slums, low-income countries, and disaster-prone areas.
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) has a high burden of disease. A lack of it can result in diarrheal disease, which has resulted in 2 million deaths per year. A majority of these deaths occur in children under five years old. Additionally, 1/3 of the developing world carries intestinal worms, and 200 million are infected by schistosomiasis, which can cause liver damage, poor growth, infertility, or kidney failure. To reduce the fecal-oral transmission of infectious disease, we need to ensure there is an adequate supply of safe and clean water, means to dispose of wastes, implementation of hygiene measures, and training for proper hygiene and use of water. In light of this recent pandemic, maintaining good hygiene is critical in the prevention of the coronavirus and ensuring human safety and well-being.
Two main contributors to poor WASH is water scarcity and inadequate water supply. Water scarcity occurs when the demand for water from all sectors is higher than the available resource. Safe drinking water sources include piped household water, protected springs, and rainwater collections, while unsafe drinking sources are unprotected dug wells, surface water, and unprotected springs. These unsafe drinking sources are areas without much protection and can be used by animals and kids as a place of defection. To further tackle the issue of water, sanitation, and hygiene, communication is key. Raising awareness about the threats posed by open defecation and not washing hands is an important first step in eliminating poor hygiene and hand washing, especially in developing countries. Long-term goals should involve changing social norms, such as promoting practices of safe disposal of child feces, hand washing with soap, and safely storing and handling drinking water.
