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Diarrhoea kills 4,500 children every day
A REPORT issued by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveals that waterborne diseases kill a child in every 15 seconds. Diarrhoea alone kills nearly 4,500 children everyday and is the second highest single cause of childhood deaths.
The lack of sanitation facilities and unhygienic drinking water services are the biggest causes of waterborne diseases and children become the most vulnerable victims. According to the report, over one billion people across the world do not have access to safe drinking water and almost 33 per cent of the world population does not have proper sanitation facilities.
Diarrhoea causes dehydration and children are more likely than adults to die of diarrhoea because they become dehydrated more quickly. Diarrhoea is also a major cause of child malnutrition. Thus, due to waterborne diseases many children are also missing out on education.
The main causes of diarrhoea are poor hygiene, lack of clean drinking water, overcrowding and the trend towards bottle-feeding rather than breastfeed. Protection from the disease can be ensured with clean drinking water, use of toilets and washing hands before touching food.
In a recently released book `The Big Necessity’, the author, Rose George mentioned that nearly 2.6 billion people don’t have access to safe sanitation facilities. Four in 10 people live in situations where they are surrounded by human excrement, which then gets carried with them on their fingers, clothes and into their drinking water.
UNICEF report’s regional breakdown reveals that almost half of the population in India and about 1.5 billion people in China live without toilets creating an environment polluted with human waste.
Original artcile posted at: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=154003
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The lack of sanitation facilities and unhygienic drinking water services are the biggest causes of waterborne diseases and children become the most vulnerable victims. According to the report, over one billion people across the world do not have access to safe drinking water and almost 33 per cent of the world population does not have proper sanitation facilities.
Diarrhoea causes dehydration and children are more likely than adults to die of diarrhoea because they become dehydrated more quickly. Diarrhoea is also a major cause of child malnutrition. Thus, due to waterborne diseases many children are also missing out on education.
The main causes of diarrhoea are poor hygiene, lack of clean drinking water, overcrowding and the trend towards bottle-feeding rather than breastfeed. Protection from the disease can be ensured with clean drinking water, use of toilets and washing hands before touching food.
In a recently released book `The Big Necessity’, the author, Rose George mentioned that nearly 2.6 billion people don’t have access to safe sanitation facilities. Four in 10 people live in situations where they are surrounded by human excrement, which then gets carried with them on their fingers, clothes and into their drinking water.
UNICEF report’s regional breakdown reveals that almost half of the population in India and about 1.5 billion people in China live without toilets creating an environment polluted with human waste.
Original artcile posted at: http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=154003
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