Importance of safe drinking water
Chapter 2 Social Pharmacy Notes 2.1 Demography and Family Planning, 2.2 Mother and child health, 2.3 Importance of breastfeeding, 2.4 Ill effects of infant milk substitutes and bottle feeding 2.5 Overview of Vaccines, 2.6 Types of immunity 2.7 Immunization 2.8 Effect of Environment on Health 2.8.1 Water pollution 2.8.1.2 Importance of safe drinking water, waterborne diseases 2.8.2 Air pollution 2.8.3 Noise pollution 2.8.4 Sewage and solid waste disposal 2.8.5 Occupational illnesses 2.8.6 Environmental pollution due to pharmaceuticals 2.8.7 Psychosocial Pharmacy: Drugs of misuse and abuse – psychotropics, narcotics, alcohol, tobacco products.
Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks. This is particularly the case in health care facilities where both patients and staff are placed at additional risk of infection and disease when water, sanitation, and hygiene services are lacking. Globally, 15% of patients develop an infection during a hospital stay, with the proportion much greater in low-income countries.
Options for water sources used for drinking water and irrigation will continue to evolve, with an increasing reliance on groundwater and alternative sources, including wastewater. Climate change will lead to greater fluctuations in harvested rainwater. Management of all water resources will need to be improved to ensure provision and quality.
Sustainable Development Goal target 6.1 calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water. The target is tracked with the indicator of “safely managed drinking water services” – drinking water from an improved water source that is located on-premises, available when needed, and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination
Safe drinking water, as defined by the Guidelines, does not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages. Those at greatest risk of waterborne disease are infants and young children, people who are debilitated and the elderly, especially when living under unsanitary conditions. Those who
are generally at risk of waterborne illness may need to take additional steps to protect themselves against exposure to waterborne pathogens, such as boiling their drinking water.
Safe drinking water is required for all usual domestic purposes, including drinking, food preparation and personal hygiene
Reference: WHO Website