According to the ‘Fatal Neglect’ report by UK based WaterAid; the International aid community is not effectively responding to the causes child deaths. In fact the system in itself is essentially broken, or damaged, as it fails to lower the child mortality rates using sustainable and targeted approach. In fact WaterAid says the international aid system is in fact causing and compounding to the deaths of millions children who die from preventable diseases and illnesses. Children under-five are increasingly dying needlessly from diarrhoea, which can be prevented with increased awareness and better sanitation systems. According to Wateraid , ‘ the aid system must target resources to diseases that pose the greatest burden to a population…’ (IRIN).
Poor sanitation, which is a major cause of diarrhea, continues to receive inadequate attention. Sanitation continues to receive low priority from both international donors and state governments; well the other two leading causes of child mortality, HIV and meningitis receive much greater attention. According to the World Health Organization 28% of deaths for children under the age of five years-old are caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water. More than 1 billion people live without access to safe water and 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. As written in the post, Clean Water and Sanitation a Must for Children, if an end to high child mortality rates are to be seen.
The serious nature diarrheal disease has not completely fallen on deaf ears in recent years, in fact, the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce Child Mortality, set to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday, by two-thirds by 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO)’s ‘report card’ on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) progress, which was released this past May, stated that 9 million under-five children died in 2007, which is down from an estimated 12.5 million in 1990, for which MDG progress is measured. “However, in many African countries and in low-income countries generally, progress has been insufficient to reach the MDG target that aims for a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by the year 2015 (WHO)”. However as with most of the other MDG’s as an international community we are in a critical state, and in Sub-Saharan Africa at current rates the goals will not be met until 2064. Additionally 2008 was the International Year of Sanitation, and while it did bring a great deal of attention to the issue, and enabled many projects, the fight for clean water is far from over.
For children water truly brings with it a double edged sword, as there is Life or Death in Each Drop. There are 2.5 billion people without access to adequate sanitation facilities, and some 900 million more people who are left to drink water which remains unsafe, putting their lives in danger with each and every sip. The drink of life truly becomes the drink of death for many, as waterborne illnesses are the second largest cause of death for children under age five. With some 2.5 billion people without access to adequate sanitation facilities, and another 900 million more without access to clean and potable water, each and every sip is like playing Russian roulette. The drink of life truly becomes the drink of death for many, as waterborne illnesses are the second largest cause of death for children under the age of five.
So what is to be done? According to WaterAid’s report, Developing country governments and donors should adhere to these general principles:
1. In health planning, the under-five disease burden and all its determinants should be comprehensively addressed
2. In health policy, strengthening health systems should continue to be a priority,
but sufficient focus should also be given to the wider determinants of poor health,
particularly poor sanitation.
More importantly the report stated that the following three concrete steps must urgently be taken:
1. All national health plans should confirm clear links between country health information systems, particularly disease prevalence data, and the process of planning and budgeting.
2. All countries should have a mechanism for inter-ministry coordination on reducing child mortality, with a joint agenda to deliver relevant strategies.
3. All national health plans should contain an adequate and costed strategy for environmental health.
