Over 3,000 Ghanaian children die annually from diarrhoea ? Report

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diarrhea
diarrhea
By Francis Tandoh
? ?Over 3,000 children in Ghana die annually from diarrhoea?caused by lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, says WaterAid Ghana in a report released here.

diarrhea
diarrhea
? ?The report (Child of Mine ?How Putting Toilets at the Center of the Sustainable Development Goals Can Transform the Health of Children Everywhere by 2030) seeks to urge UN member-states to adopt Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that recognize the importance of sanitation in eliminating extreme poverty and improving health.
?? Currently, 3.5 million out of the 25 million people in the West African country lack access to an improved water source while 86 percent of the people do not have access to improved sanitation.
?? The statistics, according to WaterAid, is frightening, and urges dedicated SDGs on WASH services delivery.
?? ?WASH for all is vital to end preventable child deaths and improve the health of children around the world. We need globally recognized goals to deliver change,? the report stated.
?? With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline approaching, a new global framework, known as the SDGs, would be adopted by UN member-states in 2015.
?? The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) estimate that one-third of the world?s population lack access to improved sanitation.
?? Globally, 500,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
?? Out of the figure, Africa is the most affected losing 277,794 children each year. South Asia follows with 181,155 while East Asia and the Pacific accounts for 9,669 deaths. The rest of the world loses 39,589 children annually.
?? WaterAid observed that nine percent of child deaths globally were from diarrhea. Out of the figure, 88 percent are directly related to a lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services.
?? The report observed that poor sanitation contributed to death and disease worldwide, particularly among children less than five years of age.
?? ?Poor sanitation and hygiene conditions at the time of birth put mother and baby at risk of life threatening infection as children being weaned from breastfeeding are exposed to pathogens through contaminated food and water,? it stated.
?? It also noted that diarrhea, even when it does not result in death, could have long-term impacts as approximately a quarter of stunting growth could be attributed to five or more diarrhea episodes before two years of age.
?? Although more than 1.8 billion people around the world have gained access to sanitation since 1990, the report says ?access to sanitation remains one of the most neglected issues in developing countries and international development aid.?
?? The SDGs will aim to eradicate extreme poverty and build on the progress made on the MDGs. It will commit member-states to a comprehensive package of interventions to tackle hunger, inequality and ill-health.
?? Sanitation is a basic human right yet, one child in three does not have good sanitation to stop debilitating and often fatal diarrhea.
?? The report said if governments took shared responsibility to reach every child with adequate sanitation by 2030, future generations would be healthier.
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