Author Detail:
Mehran Khan, a student of MScN at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University, Karachi. With nearly 12 years of extensive experience in the nursing field, including six years serving as a Director of Nursing.
 |
Access to safe and clean water is crucial to human life and dignity. Despite two decades of progress in basic sanitation and clean water access a collaborative study conducted by the United Nations Children's and the World Health Organization Fund reveals that approximately one in every four people still lacks safe drinking water(Kuehn, 2021).Better access to clean water and sanitation is critical to reaching all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which range from environmental sustainability and food security to health and education. It also accelerates economic growth and helps reduce poverty (Walker, 2016).
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that having access to water is a "primary tool for enhancing public health" due to the fact that it can significantly improve cleanliness and avoid many diseases. Clean water is accessible to only a limited number of people. Pakistan ranks third among countries with poor sanitation and water supplies, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with 2.1 million people living in Pakistan without access to clean water. The lack of clean water and sanitation has seriously impacted many important national systems, including agriculture, the environment, and society. Due to poor water sanitation and cleanliness, waterborne illnesses are a common threat to public health in Pakistan.
Pakistan, among the top 10 nations in the world with the greatest number of people living without access to clean water, urgently needs to raise the quality of its urban and rural drinking water and water sanitation systems at the individual and governmental levels, important steps must be taken concurrently to improve water sanitation. If done correctly, maintaining proper cleanliness can greatly reduce the number of deaths and illnesses brought on by water-borne infections (Qamar et al., 2022).
The absence of proper sanitation and contaminated water remain significant contributors to the spread of deadly diseases. Access to clean water and sanitation is crucial for human life and dignity and pivotal for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, driving economic growth, reducing poverty, and enhancing public health globally. Pakistan, ranking third among countries with poor sanitation and water supplies, urgently needs to address its water crisis to mitigate the serious impacts on agriculture, the environment, society, and public health.
References
Kuehn, B. M. (2021). Urgent Efforts Needed to Increase Access to Clean Water, Sanitation. JAMA, 326(7), 592-592. https://doi.org/ doi:10.1001/jama.2021.12211
Qamar, K., Nchasi, G., Mirha, H. T., Siddiqui, J. A., Jahangir, K., Shaeen, S. K., Islam, Z., & Essar, M. Y. (2022). Water sanitation problem in Pakistan: A review on disease prevalence, strategies for treatment and prevention. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104709
Walker, C. (2016). Lack of safe water, sanitation spurs growing dissatisfaction with government performance.
.jpg)
0 Comments