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Water is an essential part of life and without water death can occur within days. Yet,
there are people who live in this world that take this gift from nature for granted. This gift
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provides the human body with the ability to maintain homeostasis. It maintains homeostasis by
regulating body temperature, nutrition and eliminating waste. Water is not only an essential
nutrient for bodily functions but greatly impacts hygiene. Good personal hygiene habits such as
bathing, washing hands or brushing teeth are imperative to maintain health and disease
prevention. Clean water is needed for a person to benefit from their personal hygiene practice.
Another factor that plays an important role in human life is having sustainable sanitation.
Sustainable sanitation consists of having methods in place to collect, transport, treat and dispose
waste. These methods must be in place in order to protect human health and the environment.
Undeveloped countries that do not have a sustainable sanitation system increase the risk of
exposing the public to pathogens affecting public health. Although vast improvements have been
made in providing people around the world with clean water and sanitation (WaSH). There are
still people around the world in undeveloped countries that struggle with the availability of clean
water and sanitation. The challenge of providing humans with universal access to safe water
The quality of water, sanitation and hygiene is greatly affected by a person social
economic status (SES). SES is broken down into three classes (high, medium and low) a person
that lives in a low social economic class lives in poverty and usually in an undeveloped country.
These people deal with the daily challenge of obtaining clean water for bathing, cooking,
drinking and cleaning. Not being able to perform these activities of daily living (ADL’s) which
involve the need for clean water places a person at risk for waterborne diseases. Waterborne
disease that typically lead to diarrhea and severe vomiting include cholera, typhoid and
dysentery. Severe vomiting and diarrhea lead to fluid volume deficits (FVD) which in turn clean
water is needed to replace that fluid loss. If dirty water is used to replaced fluid in the body, then
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it prolongs hydration and can quickly result in death. This viscous cycle increases morbidity and
exposes the young and the old to mortality. Morbidity and mortality are also increased or
decreased by the handling of sanitation. Sanitation is the process that relates to public health by
having an appropriate method for the disposal of waste. The challenges of finding effective
methods for disposing waster are often over looked by government. This results in poor densely
populated areas that deal with waste management issues and open defecation practices. Open
defecation practices are also concerning to public health because it can lead to disease like polio,
Providing people with access to clean water and proper sanitation are basic human rights.
The challenges that come with having clean water and proper sanitation must be addressed.
Addressing these challenges consist of creating a public water system and locations (landfills)
were waste could be disposed of properly. These designated areas are called landfills and they
separate waste from surrounding areas. Landfills decreases contamination in the surrounding
environment and preserves aquifers and groundwater. Preserving ground water and springs
allows for increased access to clean water. Public locations (community pools) and waste
management facilities can also be in place to collect water and dispose waste created by humans.
Although increasing access to clean water and creating or improving system to rids trash and
human waste improves public health. The services that these facilities provide must be regulated
and enforced by government. Although governments in developing countries are having the
difficulty of developing and preserving facilities for water and sanitation. There are global
programs in places to help increase assess to clean water and increase knowledge about the
importance of sanitation. Global programs like The Water Project, UN-Water, Wello and
Having access to clean water must be in place for long term use so that it can be
effective. In most under develop countries water is collected by natural water holes that both
people and animals use. Not only is this method unsafe but it is also unhealthy due to the
increase risk of being exposed to communicable disease (zoonosis). It is important for countries
to develop water pumps and wells were people can gather to obtain clean underground water.
These effective methods provide a location were people gather to collect water and receive
education on proper methods to collect and handle clean water. Methods of collecting clean
water need to be provided in order to continue the process of dieses prevention. Transportation of
water needs to occur with proper containers designed to carry and store water. Other methods of
collecting water is rainwater harvesting. This method is a passive process that allows people to
catch rainwater that could be stored, treated (Chlorine and Iodine) and used for activities of daily
living. Similar methods of harvesting clean water consist of dew and fog harvesting. This simple
method involves harvesting nets that are placed vertically to catch fog droplets which flow into a
reservoir. Developing countries that are surrounded by salt water rivers can benefit from
desalination. Desalination is a process of removing salt from seawater by boiling water and
capturing the steam. The power of the sun can also be used in the process of creating clean
water. This method is called Solar Water Disinfections (SODIS) method and is an inexpensive
way of providing clean water to developing countries. The process involves the collection of
water in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle which are placed under direct sunlight for hours.
The SODIS method kills bacteria, viruses and parasites by eliminating it with UV-A rays
mortality and morbidity. A system that is not effective with managing waste regardless of the
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availability of clean water will still lead to diseases. Open defecation practices not only pollute
the environment with human feces such as bacteria, viruses and parasite but also exposes women
to other risk. Risk involved with open defecation leaves women vulnerable to rape and attacks.
Skolnik (2016) states “Failure to dispose properly of human waste contaminates water and food
sources and lad to an increase in transmission of pathogens through the oral-fecal route” p. 175-
176. Clean and safe locations need to be provided for the proper collection of human waste and
the prevention of violence. Defecation is not the only concern that needs to be address when
discussing the importance of sanitation. Each day humans generate about 5 pounds of trash and
method need to be in place to collect it. Low income families in undeveloped countries live in
crowded towns that are often over looked by government. When a town is over looked by
government there are no regulations in place to help with the elimination of trash. Low SES
families in undeveloped countries live in constant trash or landfills due unenforced laws and
regulations. We live in a planet with finite resources and much can be learned from the Zero
Waste philosophy. This philosophy involves recycling and reusing waste that humans create to
improve our environment and save cost. Waste that is created by humans can be decomposed and
used for agriculture. Not only is this philosophy beneficial to the environment but has the
potential to generate job opportunities for countries that have a high rate of unemployment.
Nurses understand the importance of education and with education comes knowledge.
Knowledge is power and is a valuable tool in the fight against increased mortality and morbidity
as a result of poor WaSH. In undeveloped counties diarrhea due to poor WaSH is the number one
killer in the elderly and children. Teaching effective hygiene practices and proper handwashing
techniques is a low-cost method in the fight against waterborne disease. Skolnik (2016) informs
us that “They also found that hygiene promotion efforts need to focus on simple messages about
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handwashing and avoid trying to promote too many messages at once, if they are to be successful
and sustainable” p. 181. Proper education through training aids can also help identify methods to
purify water by filtering, boiling, distilling or chlorination. Education can be provided near local
water sources on the signs and symptoms of water borne disease that can help family member
identify when their loved ones have been exposed to these invisible killers. Education can also be
provided on the times and places were clean resources of water are available in the area.
In conclusion, there has been advancements in creating the availability of clean water and
sanitation. Yet there are still developing countries around the world that are still dealing with
poor water and sanitation. The availability of clean water and proper sanitation is a basic human
right and must be addressed on a global scale. Due to technological advancement, diseases are no
longer bound by countries nor are diseases bound by social economic status. Diseases don’t
judge a person’s age, gender or status and can lead to epidemic or pandemics. We are bound by
human righteousness and there is a need for global citizens who want to take action on facing
References
Centers for Disease Control. (2013). Hygiene Fast Facts. Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/wsh_diarrhoea/en/
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
Skolnik, Richard. (2016). Global Health 101 (3rd edition). Burlington, MA:Jones & Bartlett
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Learning
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
World Health Organization. Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and the prevention of
https://borgenproject.org/water-for-developing-countries/