Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes.
“Ninety per cent of households in Nigeria consume contaminated water and other impure substances,” according to a report by the multiple indicator cluster.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in low and middle-income countries, 38 per cent of health care facilities lack an improved water source, 19 per cent do not have improved sanitation, and 35 per cent lack water and soap for hand washing.
“globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces, accounting for about 502 000 diarrhoeal deaths each year and by 2025 half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas,” says WHO.
However, contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases, some of the more commonly reported problems experienced from drinking impure water includes :cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.
This is particularly the case in health care facilities where both patients and staff are placed at additional risk of infection and disease when water, sanitation, and hygiene services are lacking,” says WHO.
Inadequate management of urban, industrial, and agricultural wastewater means the drinking-water of hundreds of millions of people is dangerously contaminated or chemically polluted.
Diarrhoea is the most widely known disease linked to contaminated food and water but there are other hazards.
The aim of the scheme is to ensure that products protect users from the pathogens that cause diarrhoeal disease and to strengthen policy, regulatory, and monitoring mechanisms at the national level to support appropriate targeting and consistent and correct use of such products.