Manage water or face severe shortage by 2025 - IWMI Researcher
Sri Lanka will be hit by a severe shortage of water by 2025 if steps
are not taken to manage water, said Researcher, International Water
Management Institute (IWMI), Alexandra Evans.
She was speaking at a ceremony to mark the Global Handwashing Day and
raise awareness of the importance of the International Year of
Sanitation (IYS).
Evans said providing basic sanitation which is a fundamental need of
all people should be the objective of the International Year of
Sanitation.
Sanitation should not be confined to providing sanitary facilities to
villages. A broader awareness on the need for basic sanitation which is
a fundamental right of all people should be ensured.
"We need to mobilise politicians, teachers and households and
communities to ensure sanitation in their immediate localities by
creating adequate awareness of its importance in the health of the
nation", she said.
Sri Lanka had 91 per cent sanitation in 2004 and with the tsunami and
the ethnic conflict in the North and East the standard dropped to 76 per
cent. Access to sanitation is low in Anuradhapura, Ampara and the
Moneragala districts.
Secretary, Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage, Asoka Pieris said
around 10,000 schools do not have adequate sanitary facilities.
It is the urban poor who lack adequate facilities. Proper sanitation
and awareness of wastewater management are important steps in improving
public health.
According to a survey of the Ministry of Health there are many health
and nutritional issues affecting 3,942,327 school children in 9.678
government schools. Malnutrition, iron and vitamin deficiencies,
stunting and obesity are affecting the learning abilities of children.
Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the
hazards of waste to promote health. Hazards are physical,
microbiological or chemical agents of disease.
Waste which could cause health problems are human and animal faeces,
solid waste, waste water (sewage, urine, sludge, grey water) industrial
waste and agricultural waste.
Hygienic means prevention can be achieved by engineering solutions,
simple technologies and personal hygienic practices.
Around 2.6 billion people, approximately 41 per cent of the global
population do not have access to toilets and other basic sanitation
facilities.
An estimated population of 42,000 suffer from diseases related to
unclean water. .
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