WHO report flags concerning levels of unsafe water, poor sanitation, hygiene in SA

A World Health Organisation (WHO) study has found unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in South Africa were responsible for more than 7 000 deaths and more than 640 000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in children under the age of five.

This was revealed in the study titled – Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update.

The study presents estimates of the disease burden attributable to unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for 183 WHO member states for 2019, disaggregated by region, age, and sex.

According to it, the estimates were based on four health outcomes – diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, undernutrition, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.
One DALY represented the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health, said the WHO.

It added the DALYs for a disease or health condition “are the sum of the years of life lost to due to premature mortality [YLLs] and the years lived with a disability [YLDs] due to prevalent cases of the disease or health condition in a population”.

More than three-quarters of all WASH-attributable deaths occurred in the African and Southeast Asia regions, while 89% of attributable deaths were recorded in low- and lower-middle income countries.

Source: news24

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