Water Born Diseases in Pakistan (Karachi)

One of the greatest problems in Pakistan is the availability and access to clean water. This not only limits agricultural production and industrial growth, but it is also the leading cause of disease and child mortality in the country. People, particularly in the rural areas, do not have access to clean drinking water. By resorting to drinking from the locally available water sources, the poor people are plagued with water-borne diseases, which is an immense financial burden in health care costs and also results in the loss of poor household incomes. Considering most people are day laborers, this loss perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

Urbanization, inefficient use of water for irrigation and the use of chemicals and fertilizers in the agricultural sector, and industrial pollution has deteriorated and depleted supplies of drinking water for people, particularly for those in the rural areas. According to studies just over 20 percent of the people have access to safe drinking water.

Studies indicate that water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases are a significant economic burden in the country, with diarrheal diseases contributing to half of this economic burden.

SWO has found that most people do not have access to clean drinking water in the villages that it is working in. It is for this reason that we are initiating community development projects to educate people about waterborne diseases as well as spread the use of common water filtration techniques. We are currently conducting research on the products and techniques available in the field of clean water. Some of these include bio-sand water filters, solar disinfection of water, as well as water filtration products which can be distributed at the household level.

In line with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) #7 (Ensure Environmental Sustainability) of the United Nationsaims to devise viable solutions in order to provide sustainable access to improved water sources and sanitation in the urban and rural areas of Pakistan; helping to improve the quality of life in those areas.

Looking for Partners and Technical Support.

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