Poor sanitation gulping more children’s lives than ever

Guest blogger Amanda Kidd expresses the real need for improving sanitation facilities if chid mortality is to be reduced.

According to demographic and health surveys, water and sanitation woes have plagued the developing nations and children are the worst sufferers of this. Lack of essential healthcare facilities has led to an alarming number of child deaths. As per World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Organization (UNO) estimates, about 980 million children had to go without toilets and defecate in the open in the years 1990-2004, and it seems figures will only increase in the coming years if any sincere effort is not taken towards curbing the trend. This would lead to escalating health problems, and ultimately the occurrence of deadly diseases like diarrhoea that claims the lives of about 28 percent of children under five every year.

Child mortality rates are an important indicator of a country’s growth and development. It’s very much evident that countries which have achieved an advanced level of progress and development have undertaken health and sanitation considerations very seriously in terms of policy making and its implementation. There is a need to allocate part of an economy’s resources to sectors like health and sanitation in order to combat the vicious rate of child mortality in developing countries. Underdeveloped and developing countries tend to lack sufficient resources for sectors like health and sanitation, leaving them unable to sufficiently invest in health plans and medication.

The Zambian Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) reveals appalling data regarding child mortality. It says 119 out of 1000 children do not reach five years of age in Zambia, diarrhoea being the main cause of deaths with one-fifth of children falling prey to this deadly disease. Sanitation is a major cause of worry in Zambia but there are few serious efforts to prevent the crisis. The survey states that hardly 60 percent of children suffering from diarrhoea get any sort of medical assistance, as the government’s funds are too insufficient to cover the magnitude of the problem. However, some policies like the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) 2006-2011 can prove to be a great help in diminishing the severity of the situation.

Mere rhetoric will not solve the sanitation problem, action is needed to resolve it. There are some simple guidelines which, when adopted in earnest, will give encouraging results. Equipping schools with toilets, especially for girls is a vital step towards improving the sanitation problem. There must be proper disposal of human and animal waste to prevent the spread of fatal diseases. Basic hygiene practices such as the use of soap and water in schools and public places can prevent the transmission of diseases like cholera, which cause diarrhoea. Organisations at national and international levels should create awareness among people about healthcare and sanitation issues. The participation of more and more people will arouse mass awareness against poor sanitation and the consequent life-threatening situations created thereupon.

The International Year of Sanitation 2008 was an effort towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the number of people who live without proper sanitation by 2015. The UK has exemplified that proper channelling of funds towards improving sanitation can control (and reduce) child mortality rates. A lack of political will in the ruling establishments in many nations is a major reason behind the present dreadful conditions of sanitation and healthcare facilities. An investment in sanitation can control child mortality rates to a great extent, such as can be seen through the examples of countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

There is a great need for investment in the health sectors of developing countries (and specifically in sanitation and water), if child mortality is to be reduced. More funds need to be diverted towards eliminating the root of problem (here sanitation) instead of taking efforts to tackle the after-effects. Only then will child mortality be significantly reduced, giving children the prospect of a brighter future.

About the author: By profession, Amanda Kidd is a writer and blogger who believes that a healthy lifestyle is must for a happy life. She always makes it a point to write health articles like on various diseases every now and then. But recently she is busy in writing on different types of anger management therapies and exercises.