Diarrhoea major killer disease

The Minister of Health Shirley Ayitey has said despite efforts made in achieving the millennium development goal (MDG) on water targets, diarrhea is still regard as the second killer disease of children under five, accounting for 10,000 deaths every year.

One out of four people living in a rural community does not have access to an improved, dependable water source.
The MDG on water is meant to halve the number of people without safe drinking water, and reduce by two-thirds the mortality of children under five years by 2015.

The Minister made this statement in an address read on her behalf at the launch of Pureit water purifier by Unilever in Accra.

“For families, the water access challenges are many. The daily need to fetch water, which can include trekking short and long distances, takes time away from both family and productive activities.

“Often, it is women and young girls who bear the brunt of this work. When clean water sources are not available, households and communities rely on nearby streams or unprotected wells and springs -- where quality and potability cannot be guaranteed,” she said.

This, the minister said, makes families and communities susceptible to diarrhea and other diseases that have negative impact on community health. According to her, in 2012 the country also recorded 9,548 cholera cases with about 100 deaths.

She said the 2009 multiple indicators survey report indicated that less than 8 percent of Ghanaians treat drinking water before using, adding that the issue of safe water at the point of use should be taken more seriously in various communities going forward.

“It is important to note that where potable sources of water have been provided by governments, contamination of all kinds occurs during collection, transportation, storage and consumption of water. Even when water is fetched from an improved, uncontaminated point such as protected borehole, it is very often contaminated due to unhygienic handling at home.

“The government is aware of the benefit derived from effective practice of water treatment and safe storage, so it has put in place a strategy to guide its implementation at the household level. This strategy is focused on behavioural change and involvement of the private sector through public-private partnership.

She added that the Ministry of Health will be happy to partner with socially responsible companies in the country with focus on household water treatment and safe storage devices that are affordable, simple-to-use technologies.
She therefore commended Unilever for taking a step toward protecting the people’s lives against waterborne diseases by the introduction of this water purifier.

The Pureit water purifier, according to the Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, Ms. MaidieArkutu, gives complete protection against all waterborne diseases, meeting stringent global norms of Environmental Protection Agency, US, for effective removal of harmful viruses and bacteria.

She said Pureit is the world’s leading in-home water purifier brand, already being sold in many countries across the globe.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has observed that: “If humankind will manage its water resources properly and ensure everyone has reliable access to safe drinking water and make basic hygiene practices the norm, we could save around 1.8 million lives yearly -- and more importantly the lives of young children”.

The WHO has also indicated that the provision of safe water alone will reduce diarrheal and enteric diseases by up to 50 percent, even in the absence of improved sanitation or other hygienic measures.

By Benson Afful | B&FT Online | Ghana