NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth Swachh India NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth Swachh India
  • Home/
  • News/
  • Clean Water Is Essential To Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases, Says The World Health Organisation

News

Clean Water Is Essential To Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases, Says The World Health Organisation

Referring to the prevalence of Neglected Topical Diseases in the South Asian countries, the World Health Organisation suggested that behavioral change campaigns for WASH can help combat these diseases

Clean Water Is Essential To Eliminating Neglected Tropical Diseases, Says The World Health Organisation

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO), on the occasion of World Water Day on Friday, said that access to clean and safe water for all is fundamental to controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in south-east Asia. Regional Director of WHO (south-east Asia) Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said, alongside other interventions, access to clean water was a powerful means to ensure all communities combat tropical diseases and that in partnership with health authorities achievements can be sustained and progress accelerated.

Referring to recent figures which showed south-east Asia was the world’s second-most affected region by NTDs, with remote and hard-to-reach communities bearing the bulk of the burden, Ms. Singh said,

It was no coincidence that these are the very same communities that are most disadvantaged when it comes to accessing clean and safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Also Read: World Water Day 2019: Ministers And Politicians Urge Netizens To Conserve The Precious Resource – Water

National NTD programmes region-wide should work with partners and across sectors to target affected populations and make full use of the WHO’s WASH tool kits, Ms. Singh said.

She said communities which lacked access to clean and safe water need sustainable solutions, which could include addressing the stigma-based exclusion of improved drinking water sources or ensuring health care facilities at schools – particularly in rural areas. She said,

It could also mean ensuring access to hand washing facilities where appropriate, and that household waste is safely disposed to prevent the transmission of diseases such as schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases.

Stating that behavioral change campaigns can also enhance WASH to help combat NTDs, Ms. Singh urged all stakeholders to identify behaviours that exacerbate (or can alleviate) the impact such diseases have on individual sufferers, as well as their broader spread.

Locally tailored messaging that empowers communities should then be developed to promote positive outcomes that will accelerate NTD-related progress alongside other goods, she said.

Monitoring and evaluating the impact of interventions is key. Ongoing information on the effectiveness of policies is crucial to adapting interventions and ensuring the inattention that defines NTDs and exposes whole communities to stigma and marginalisation is overcome, Ms. Singh stated. Ms. Singh said,

On World Water Day, WHO highlights the critical role access to WASH is to the fight against NTDs specifically, and the social good it provides generally, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 6. The outcome we are pursuing really is crystal clear: water for all, whoever you are, wherever you are.

Also Read: World Water Day 2019: Five Stark Facts About Water Crisis In India

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollutionwaste managementplastic banmanual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollutionclean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.

Highlights: Banega Swasth India Launches Season 10

Reckitt’s Commitment To A Better Future

India’s Unsung Heroes

Women’s Health

हिंदी में पढ़ें

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics

© Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2024. All rights reserved.