0.2m children under five die of water-borne diseases annually

By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Around 99 percent of water supplied to the population is unfit for human consumption due to which over 200,000 children under five die from diarrhoea, typhoid fever, cholera and hepatitis A and E every year. Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) scientist Hifza Rasheed said this during a five-day training workshop titled “The challenges of sustainable water supply services” organised at the PCRWR Headquarters here on Monday. Sponsored by the Dutch government, the workshop was attended by a large number of mangers of water supply agencies from across the country. The key resource person was Jan Visscher from Netherlands. Explaining water-borne diseases, Hifza Rasheed said that contaminated water was responsible for 40 percent of all diseases in the country. She said water contained over 60,000 friendly and harmful bacteria nine of which caused dysentery, typhoid, cholera, gastroenteritis and leptospirosis. She said water table in Pakistani cities and villages contained arsenic that caused arsenicosis, a chronic illness resulting from drinking water. She said high levels of arsenic in water over a long period of time caused arsenic poisoning. Fluorosis is an abnormal condition caused by excessive intake of fluorine. The abnormality is chiefly characterized by mottling of teeth and the long-term intake of fluorine can lead to severe skeletal problems (skeletal fluorosis), including stiffness and pain in joints. She explained that water-borne diseases were any illness caused by drinking water contaminated by human or animal faeces containing pathogenic microorganisms. She said the untreated hospital waste contained hepatitis virus. Hifza Rasheed said that children were the main victims of this virus due to low immunity. The other viral diseases caused by contaminated water could be polio and meningitis, she added. The scientist said that improper disposal of sanitary waste and other chemical contaminations like factory wastes contaminated drinking water, which could cause different cancers. After initial discussion, Jan Visscher asked how could the managers of different water supply agencies help the government achieve the cherished goal of clean drinking water for everyone till 2015.
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