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India’s Fight Against Polio is an Unprecedented Success

India’s fight against Polio
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease spread through poliovirus. Since the early twentieth century, polio has been widespread in many countries, causing paralysis in thousands of children every year. With the help of various nonprofit organizations and the Global Polio Eradication initiative, the disease is now narrowed down to a handful of nations.

In 2014, India was certified as a polio-free country, leaving Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan on the list for polio eradication programs. India’s fight against polio is a remarkable achievement because of the various challenges the country faced. Nicole Deutsch, the head of polio operations for UNICEF in India, called it a “monumental milestone.”

Polio: Cause and Prevention

Poliovirus is highly contagious, infecting only humans and residing in the throat and intestine of the infected person. It spreads through feces and can contaminate food and water in unsanitary conditions.

The virus affects the brain and spinal cord of the infected person, causing paralysis which cannot be cured. Immunization through inactivated poliovirus vaccine and oral poliovirus vaccine are the only possible methods to fight against the virus. In the case of India, it was the second option which was administered.

India’s Fight Against Polio: the Challenges Faced

India’s fight against polio faced unique challenges, such as its huge population density and an increased birth rate. The number of people living in impoverished conditions with poor sanitation is huge, making them vulnerable to the polio disease.

Lack of education and prejudice among certain sects of the population also hindered the immunization process. Other challenges faced were the unstable healthcare system, which does not support people from all levels of society, and the geographically-dispersed inaccessible terrain, which made the immunization process difficult.

Overcoming these Challenges

Overcoming the challenges of polio eradication was possible due to the combined help provided by UNICEF, WHO, Rotary Club, the Indian government and millions of frontline workers. They took micro-planning strategies to address the challenges faced by the socially, economically, culturally and linguistically diverse country that is India.

India began its oral polio vaccine program in 1978 but it did not gain momentum until 1994, when the local government of New Delhi successfully conducted a mass immunization program for children in the region. From the year 1995, the government of India began organizing National Immunization Day, and in 1997, the first National Polio Surveillance Project was established.

Other initiatives taken include:

  • Involving almost 7,000 trained community mobilizers who went door-to-door, educating people in highly resistant regions.
  • Engaging 2.3 million vaccine administrators who immunized almost 172 million children.
  • The government running advertisements on print media, television and radio.
  • Enlisting famous Bollywood and sports celebrities to create awareness among common people.
  • Involving religious and community leaders in encouraging parents to vaccinate their children.

Inspiration for Other Countries

In 2009, almost 741 polio cases were reported in India, which dropped down to 42 in 2010, until the last case was reported in 2011 in the eastern state of West Bengal. This unprecedented success is an inspiration for countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the disease is still looming at large.

India’s fight against polio has set an example in the world that the country can be proud of, but the fight is not over yet. Although India has been declared polio-free by the WHO, it is of the utmost importance that the nation continue to assist other nations still facing the polio epidemic.

– Mahua Mitra

Photo: Flickr

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Five Important Facts About Water Quality in Cote d’Ivoire

A large number of the issues regarding sanitation and water quality in Cote d’Ivoire can be attributed to the domestic conflict that ended in 2007. The conflict damaged crucial water supply infrastructure, especially in the north, and post-conflict reconstruction has overshadowed the maintenance and repair of these systems. Over eight million people in Cote d’Ivoire lack access to adequate sanitation facilities, which increases the risk of water-related diseases. Over four million people lack access to safe drinking water. These numbers increase in rural areas, where 46 percent of the rural population lacks access to clean water and 87 percent lacks access to sufficient sanitation.

Here are five facts about water quality in Cote d’Ivoire:

  1. The crisis of water quality in Cote d’Ivoire is characterized by two key problems. First, many communities, especially rural ones, face difficulties not only accessing safe drinking water, but also accessing enough of it. Second, there are many difficulties in accessing sewage infrastructure and proper bathrooms, especially in urban areas. The issue is multi-faceted, and impacts both urban and rural communities in different ways.
  2. The above issues increase the risk of transmission of water-borne diseases, such as cholera. Guinea worm was also common, though it was eradicated in 2007. Unsafe drinking water increases child mortality rates. Currently, many children die from diarrhea and similar diseases.
  3. Urbanization is one of the main causes of the current water crisis. After the civil war, the capital city of Yamoussoukro experienced a massive influx of internally displaced people. The city doesn’t have enough wells or adequate sewage and sanitation facilities to support this increase in the population, exacerbating existing issues in the city.
  4. The water crisis also has an impact on education. According to USAID, “as a result of having to collect water to drink and shower before going to school, all the children in the neighborhood were constantly tired and sick, and their academic performance suffered.” This particularly disadvantages girls, who mainly carry the burden of fetching water for their families. Even when they are able to attend school, they often don’t have access to separate sanitation facilities.
  5. Many organizations are addressing the crisis of low water quality in Cote d’Ivoire. Charity Water has funded 190 separate projects in the country and has invested $1,146,687 dollars as of November 2017. UNICEF Water and Sanitation takes a multi-pronged approach, supplying clean drinking water straight to communities, schools and hospitals, promoting sanitation and hygiene and surveying the epidemiological impacts of the low water quality to prevent water-related diseases. The Urban Water Supply Project aims to improve water quality and access to water (especially in overcrowded urban areas) and to strengthen the financial management and financial planning capacity of the National Water Agency in its urban water supply sector.

With continued support from organizations like these, water quality in Cote d’Ivoire is sure to improve in the coming years, thus improving the quality of life for the nation’s citizens.

– Olivia Bradley

Photo: Flickr

Infrastructure in Burkina Faso Shows Great Improvement

Burkina Faso

The government has made significant improvements to the infrastructure in Burkina Faso, particularly in the water sanitation and supply sector. The government is working hard to ensure that there is better access to safe drinking water, piped water into homes and improved health for the people living in the West African nation.

In past years, people in Burkina Faso went without sustainable water, even though the country is near the Volta River Basin and Niger River Delta. In fact, both of these rivers have proven to be unreliable to Burkina Faso, as they begin to dry out during certain seasons. In addition to the seasonal rivers, the country experiences common droughts throughout the year. With these geographic disadvantages, water became scarce for over 18 million citizens of the country, and water sanitation became an issue.

Fortunately, the infrastructure in Burkina Faso has improved drastically from the past. Over a span of twelve years, drinking water sustainability increased from 54 percent to 90 percent. For the Burkinabé living there, this improvement in drinking water sustainability means that the chances of having better living conditions and health are much higher.

The urban areas of Burkina Faso seem to be improving because of the technological resources that are being made available to the people living there. Yet, the same cannot be said for those who live in the poor rural areas of the country. More than half of the rural population still lives without usable water.

One of the main reasons why the infrastructure in Burkina Faso has issues with water sanitation and supply is because there is a lack of information provided to people living in rural areas. According to UNICEF, 50 percent of Burkinabé still practice open defecation, as they are not aware of the dangers of poor hygiene and see this practice as an everyday norm.

Another issue the country is having with improving water sanitation in rural areas is being able to increase access to technology while saving on funds. Without the proper budget, Burkina Faso must take into consideration the methods in which they plan to continue to help their citizens get better access to water supply and sanitation. This has changed with the assistance of the World Bank, which has mobilized $226 million over the past 20 years for Burkina Faso’s sanitation development. More than 440,000 people, including those in rural areas, have gained access to better water supply and sanitation, thus improving living conditions.

The people of Burkina Faso can hold their heads high knowing that their government is working hard with organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, and Wateraid to ensure that conditions continually improve over the next couple of years.

– Seriah Sargenton

Photo: Flickr

Why Sanitation Is Key to Water Quality in Guyana

Why Sanitation Is Key to Water Quality in GuyanaGuyana is a country in the northeastern corner of South American, between Venezuela and Suriname. It was a former British colony and is the only English-speaking country in South America. Guyana is an Amerindian word that means “land of many waters“, something that is contradicted by the water quality in Guyana at this moment.

Water pollution is a growing issue in Guyana and action needs to be taken soon to rectify the problem. The main contributors to water pollution in the region are domestic waste, agriculture and industries. Some more specific examples that can be identified are industrial waste, sewage, mining activities, marine dumping, accidental oil leakage, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, leakage from sewer lines, urban development, animal waste and leakage from landfills.

Sanitation is a growing problem that has been affecting water quality in Guyana, particularly in heavily populated areas. Without sanitation, there is a risk of infectious diseases affecting the most vulnerable groups, such as the very young, the elderly and people suffering from diseases that lower their resistance. It has also led to fatal contamination of rivers and other waters that is not only dangerous for humans, but for other species as well, harming the ecological balance of the environment.

Water is key to sanitation because it is used to keep ourselves and our surroundings clean, and it is a resource we must protect if we hope to maintain a general sense of cleanliness. According to the World Health Organization, 5.3 percent of all deaths and 6.8 percent of all disabilities worldwide are caused by poor sanitation. Additionally, there are 1.8 million people dying annually from diarrheal diseases, 90 percent of whom are children.

To combat this issue, Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) was created with the mission of delivering safe, adequate and affordable water and to ensure safe sewerage systems for improved public health and sustainable economic development. Despite these efforts, an assessment of the accounts of GWI has revealed that the company has been operating at a loss. The Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, has noted that an analysis has shown that the economic costs of production of potable water surpass the current tariff, with electricity costs and non-revenue water affecting financial viability.

Residents have been calling on GWI and other relevant authorities to expedite the improvements to the water quality in Guyana so that they can return to enjoying a normal quality of life. By improving the water and sanitation systems, Guyana can eliminate these issues and return to a state where potable water is not a luxurious amenity and instead can be enjoyed by everyone.

– Drew Fox

Photo: Flickr

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SpacerPAD in Developing Countries: Empowering Women

SpacerPADDespite the fact that menstruation is an experience shared by all women around the world, many parts of the world continue to stigmatize it and treat it as a taboo topic. Many cultures have even perpetuated destructive beliefs about menstruation, leading to a serious erosion in the availability of knowledge about menstrual health. These taboos are particularly pervasive in developing countries and have negatively affected women’s lives.

In an effort to combat the lack of health products for menstruation in developing countries, researchers Karin Högberg and Lena Berglin from the Swedish School of Textiles and the University of Borås, respectively, have begun creating a potentially revolutionary product. The SpacerPAD is a reusable, recyclable and quick-drying sanitary pad for use by women in developing countries who don’t have access to proper women’s health products.

The idea for the SpacerPAD in developing countries came to Högberg when she witnessed the significant obstacles that menstruation posed to women in Nairobi, Kenya. She described how women often resorted to using leaves, rags and sometimes cow dung to absorb the blood. Furthermore, because menstruation is such a taboo topic, many women, especially those in low-income and rural areas, don’t have the opportunity to use other washable hygiene products as they cannot be hung up to dry.

The SpacerPAD is currently undergoing testing that focuses on stopping leakage and potential bacterial growth and the ability to dry quickly in a lab at the Swedish School of Textiles. Once this testing is complete, the next step would be to produce a prototype and begin to distribute the SpacerPAD in developing countries.

In recent years, as the awareness of women’s health issues continues to grow, there have been more efforts to create an affordable reusable product as an alternative to the expensive disposable products available in most developed countries. Unfortunately, the stigma against menstruation and the belief that it is an unclean process is preventing women around the world from utilizing safe and clean hygiene products.

Additionally, while it is not intended for use in developed countries, the SpacerPAD researchers believe that it can be successful in the Swedish market where there is a lack of recyclable sanitary products.

Proper access to hygiene products is a human right and without it, millions of women around the world are suffering from health issues as well as humiliation due to the stigma.

– Akhil Reddy

Photo: Flickr

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Water and Sanitation in Lesotho Delays Poverty Reduction

Water and Sanitation in LesothoLesotho is a small landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, located within the Orange River Basin. Water resources in Lesotho are abundant, but scarcity in supply is due to climate change and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP).

Water resources in Lesotho include high levels of rainfall that collect and drain off into the major river systems of the Senqu (Orange), Mohokare (Caledon) and Makhaleng. Because these resources exceed the Basotho population’s current levels of use, the country exports water to South Africa and other neighboring countries.

Water is Lesotho’s main income generator, earning millions of dollars for the country each year though the LHWP. Despite Lesotho’s economic dependence on the richness of its water resources, the country faces some water-related challenges.

Nearly 25 percent of the population lacks access to safe drinking water. In 2016, 17 percent of households in Lesotho reported using unprotected water sources. Climate change and variable rain patterns lead to periods of chronic drought in Lesotho, resulting in water shortages and Basotho people needing to walk hours to collect water.

Even worse is the provision of sanitation in Lesotho, with 75 percent of people lacking access to adequate sanitation services. Without sanitation facilities, or access to working toilets or latrines, people’s only option is open defecation. Open defecation and the absence of washing facilities get associated with poor hygiene and an increased risk for diarrheal diseases.

Children under the age of five are the most vulnerable group.  Each year, 500 children under the age of five die from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe and inadequate water and sanitation in Lesotho.

The inability to access to safe drinking water and sanitation in Lesotho has impinged upon human development and poverty reduction. The Metolong Dam Project plans to increase water accessibility in Lesotho by 2020. Until then, the Basotho population has to deal with the chronic drought conditions and the far-reaching negative consequences resource shortages have for national health and development.

– Gabrielle Doran

Photo: Flickr

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Disparities in Water Quality in Gabon

Water resources in GabonWater quality in Gabon is abundant, but unevenly distributed and strained by high rates of urbanization. Gabon has one of the highest levels of water availability in the world, at 127,825 cubic meters per capita, per year.

Eighty-seven percent of Gabon’s 1.8 million people live in urban areas, such as Libreville and Port-Gentil. As the urban population increases, so does the demand for a fixed water supply. Gabon’s low capacity for drinking water production and lack of storage and maintenance facilities leads to frequent water shortages in Libreville and other urban areas.

Water quality in Gabon is different in urban and rural areas. In 2015, 92 percent of urban areas and 59 percent of rural areas had access to improved water resources. ‘Improved’ drinking sources include piped water on property and other improved sources of drinking water, according to the World Health Organization.

Despite its status as an upper middle-income country, 34 percent of the population lives in poverty. Rural, poverty stricken areas suffer deprivation from drinking water resources in Gabon, and 58 percent of the population does not have access to improved sanitation facilities. In 2015, sanitation rates in urban and rural areas were 43 and 32 percent, respectively.

Access to sanitation facilities is very low in Gabon. Inadequate wastewater and rainwater networks and deficient solid waste management explain the disparity.

Inadequate sewage and waste management led to negative health outcomes. Insufficient sanitation and lack of access to improved water sources are associated with the increased risk of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a class of infectious bacterial and parasitic diseases. In Gabon, a large proportion of the population is at risk of infection from soil-transmitted helminthiasis, lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis.

The infrastructure for drinking water and sanitation were identified as priority areas for reform in the Gabonese government’s 2016–2020 Country Strategy Paper. Long-term success for water and waste management requires understanding how wealth distribution and social gradients affect water quality in Gabon. The CSP addresses social and infrastructural issues and broadened the scope of the development plan. It plans to build a sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure.

– Gabrielle Doran

Photo: Flickr

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Water and Sanitation in the Solomon Islands

Water and Sanitation in the Solomon IslandsNearly 70 percent of the population of the Solomon Islands lacks access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities. This archipelago comprises almost a thousand islands in the South Pacific Ocean and only has a population of 583,600.

There are disparities in access to water and sanitation in the Solomon Islands between urban and rural areas. Rural areas house 80 percent of the population (480,000), and there is a relative lack of water and sanitation services. In fact, nearly 70 percent of the population does not have access to appropriate sanitation services.

However, a study from 2007 concluded that 97 percent of urban areas compared to 65 percent of rural areas had access to clean water supply. A similar, but much greater disparity is present in access to sanitation facilities. In 2007, 98 percent of urban areas and 18 percent of rural areas had access to sanitation facilities.

The quality of the Solomon Islands’ urban water did not achieve The World Health Organization’s drinking water standards in 2007. Drinking water with unsafe levels of contamination has adverse effects on health and can cause diarrhea and other water-borne diseases. In 2002, diarrheal diseases accounted for seven percent of mortalities in the Solomon Islands.

In 2015, 93 percent of urban areas and 77 percent of rural areas gained access to improved water sources. This data indicates that the disparity in access to water between urban and rural areas has narrowed. Access to improved, private sanitation facilities in urban areas (72 percent) was disproportionately greater than access in rural areas (8 percent) in 2015.

Without sanitation facilities or access to working toilets or latrines, people’s only option is open defecation. Open defecation and the absence of washing facilities are associated with poor hygiene and an increased risk for skin and eye infections as well as mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria and dengue fever. A lack of private sanitation facilities is also linked to higher incidences of physical and sexual violence. When people—especially women—go outside to bathe and defecate, their vulnerability to violence increases.

A government initiative to improve hygiene, water and sanitation in the Solomon Islands is included in the Solomon Islands Red Cross Society Strategic Plan for 2017 to 2020. If the Red Cross Society Strategic Plan’s target of helping 200,000 people with water, hygiene and sanitation is reached, the results could improve health outcomes and the lives of people in the Solomon Islands.

– Gabrielle Doran

Photo: Flickr

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How India is Serving the Growing Delhi Slum Population


As the population in India continues to increase steadily, so does the number of people living in slums. The country’s 2011 census revealed that the slum population currently stands at 65 million people, up from 52 million in 2001. 2,613 of India’s 4,041 towns are classified as slums. In the territory of Delhi, where capital city New Delhi is located, 1.8 million of the 22 million residents live in 22 slums.

The India census defines the term “slum” as an area resided in yet unsuited for human habitation. These places are deemed unfit if they are a hazard to human health and safety due to lack of space, ventilation, cleanliness and other factors. These areas also lack hygienic drinking water facilities, functional bathroom areas and plumbing.

The Delhi slum population lives day-to-day without the basic amenities of electricity, plumbing and gas. Most of the residents are unemployed or daily wage workers, making less than the equivalent of one U.S. dollar a day.

In the 2011 census, slums are categorized in three different subgroups – notified, recognized and identified. Notified and recognized slums are legally established, while identified slums do not hold official slum status by the Indian government. The residents living in identified slums do not have access to legal protection and civic services.

Identified slums must have a population of at least 300 people with 60-70 tenements. Over one million of the growing Delhi slum population reside in identified slums and receive no aid from the government.

With the drastic population increase of the slums, the few resources these areas have are becoming even more depleted and run down.

However, not all of the census’ findings are negative. During the 10-year period under review, the Indian slum population grew at a rate slower than the general urban population. The average household size in slums is no larger than the average household size of urban areas. Slum literacy rate rose from 72.2 percent in 2001 to 77.7 percent in 2011. This is still below the overall Indian literacy rate of 84.1 percent.

WaterAid India is an organization that works to help some of the main issues the growing Delhi slum population is facing: lack of water, sanitation and hygiene, abbreviated as WASH. WaterAid aims to increase Delhi’s access to WASH through deliveries, supporting communities to manage and monitor their own services and advocating for improved WASH conditions from the government.

Asha is another organization seeking to aid Delhi’s slum residents. Asha provides many services for slum dwellers such as access to healthcare, financial services and education. They seek to meet basic environmental and healthcare needs of the population and empower and educate slum dwellers to change their own futures. These are just two of the many organizations seeking to improve the lives of the growing Delhi slum population.

– Hannah Kaiser

Photo: Flickr

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Poverty and the Environment: Ways to Help the World’s Poor

Poverty and the Environment: 5 Ways Helping the World’s PoorAddressing issues that concern poverty and the environment are not mutually exclusive, since they both are pervasive human issues with distinctive causes and any number of solutions. Here are just a few ways helping the world’s poor helps our environment.

Solid Waste Management

Better solid waste management reduces air and water pollution caused by open burning and chemical seepage. Open burning in backyards or public spaces is a common method of waste disposal, particularly in developing nations. This is due to a lack of efficient disposal infrastructure. Open burning releases copious amounts of carbon monoxide and dioxide, carcinogens and other air pollutants detrimental to human and environmental health.

Improve Sanitation

Improved sanitation decreases chemical and waste runoff, reduces the risk of disease and creates a better environment for people, plants and animals.

Adequate sanitation is essential to human health, but approximately 2.5 billion people still lack access to it. This is a problem because human waste often leaches into surrounding groundwater when it is not disposed of properly or latrine pits are unlined. Also, if the latrine is lined, when it is emptied, it remains common practice to simply dump its contents into the nearest body of water, or onto the ground. This poses great health risks in terms of disease epidemics, bacterial infection and water pollution.

Water Purification

Water purification helps alleviate water pollution and decrease the risk of bacteria harmful to the habitat and the people who inhabit it.

Nearly 85 percent of the world’s population lives in the driest parts of the planet and 783 million people lack access to a clean water source. Due to inadequate sanitation and practices like open burning, there is a far greater risk to the poorest, most rural segments of the population living in developing nations when it comes to disease outbreak and water contamination. However, water pollution does not just hurt people, it also hurts the plants and animals that draw their source of life from the same body of water. Water purification would decrease the risks to human and environmental health posed by chemical runoff, waste seepage and acid rain.

Ending Harmful Practices

Education spreads awareness that would help reduce the frequency of harmful practices such as open burning, slash-and-burn agriculture or overfishing.

Slash-and-burn agriculture is a common method of food production in which a patch of land is cleared of its forestation, after which the remaining vegetation is burned. This is an agricultural practice that accelerates deforestation. Meanwhile, overfishing hurts future fish populations making it harder to secure food in the future and damaging the marine ecosystem from which the fish came. Education is a simple method to help alleviate the problems that are posed by poverty and the environment by promoting conscientiousness and discouraging unsustainable practices such as these.

Caring about people entails caring about the environment in which they live. Helping one helps the other. Currently, many developing nations are forced to resort to practices that hurt the environment out of sheer necessity or lack of knowledge concerning their effects. Therefore, efforts to reduce problems surrounding poverty and the environment act cyclically to benefit each other.

– Jaime Viens

Photo: Flickr