Child Development and Public Health

When my oldest daughter was 11, I decided that it was safe enough for her to visit her father's family in Colombia, South America. There were a number of real safety issues to consider: Her father was at the top of the list of dangers, then the U.S. Department of State warned US citizens not to travel to Colombia because of terrorist activity by drug cartels. There were a few concerns as the list went on about travel-related issues, and at  the bottom of the list of dangers was the water. We have all jokingly heard the "Don't drink the water" warning when traveling outside of the United States, and I was prepared with my mega-bottle of Pepto Bismol and an assumption that there would be plenty of water bottled to purchase. There was no bottled water to purchase, and my host family made sure that the water we used for cooking and drinking was boiled (We did not drink the water!). But even sanitized by boiling, there was some unidentified "stuff" floating in it. The house was equipped with a tank on the roof for rainwater, which was piped into the house plumbing for use when the aqueduct was closed. The aqueduct supplied the city with water from the mountains. Very often during the hot summer months, the aqueduct was closed during the day, open only at night. If there was no reserve in the tank, water could only be drawn for cleaning, cooking, showering etc, at night. My host family felt no hardship for lack of water, even though very often they had running water when most were supposed to be sleeping. They even laughed at my very large bottle of pink relief, joking with me that I didn't need to bring it. (I never told them that I did not drink the water.) My daughter and I kissed the ground in Miami, though our trip was a once in a lifetime blast, a very unusual family bonding experience for sure. I don't think that many of the conveniences that we have at a touch are appreciated by her, however. Perhaps she was too young to remember or care much about the lack of water during the day, or routine bouts of blackout when the electricity failed. Perhaps now that she is a mother, we should revisit places where clean water is scarce, and where children die from diarrhea, to better know just how our lives depend upon access to clean water and generally expected services every day.
Kenya has adopted into the Constitution of Kenya a right to sanitation: 'everyone has a right to a reasonable standard of sanitation'. (WHO. 2004) . The problems of an unavailable or unsafe drinking water supply are complex. Large bodies of water may not reach into the populated areas. Lack of rainfall may be the norm in desert climates. Clean sources of water can be polluted by human or animal waste, as plumbing and sewers are the other half of water supply. Unsanitary storage and handling of drinking water also contributes to the growth of bacteria in the supply. At its worst, the lack of clean water results in diarrhetic diseases that are responsible for the estimated 6000 deaths (worldwide) each day of children under 5 (Public Health. 2005). The transport of water from the source to the home can use up time and energy better used in schooling for children or productive work, as opposed to maintenance, for adults. (Mullen.Winter, 2005). The World Health Organization has determined that the "Investment in water and sanitation yields health and economic benefits." (WHO. 2004.). It seems like a waste of time for world leaders to prepare, meet about, and discuss reports that declare the economic advantages of bringing to its citizens clean, healthy water, the most basic need for life. Why is a cost-benefit study needed to determine that death from lack of clean water is a liability on the spread sheets of nations, not an asset?

Resources:

Mullen, Rhonda. (Winter, 2005). Safer Water. Public Health. Retrieved from http://whsc.emory.edu

Mullen, Rhonda (Winter, 2005). Collaboration in Kenya. Public Health. Retrieved from http://whsc.emory.edu

World Health Organization. (2004). Investments in water and sanitation yields and economic benefits. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/