Running head: HEALTH IMPACT FRAMEWORK 1

Health Impact Framework/Research Paper

(Safe water and sanitation/Hygiene)

Delaware Technical Community College

NUR 310 Global Health

April 26, 2019

Luis Orlando Perez Jr.

Water is an essential part of life and without water death can occur within days. Yet,

there are people who live in this world that take this gift from nature for granted. This gift
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provides the human body with the ability to maintain homeostasis. It maintains homeostasis by

regulating body temperature, nutrition and eliminating waste. Water is not only an essential

nutrient for bodily functions but greatly impacts hygiene. Good personal hygiene habits such as

bathing, washing hands or brushing teeth are imperative to maintain health and disease

prevention. Clean water is needed for a person to benefit from their personal hygiene practice.

Another factor that plays an important role in human life is having sustainable sanitation.

Sustainable sanitation consists of having methods in place to collect, transport, treat and dispose

waste. These methods must be in place in order to protect human health and the environment.

Undeveloped countries that do not have a sustainable sanitation system increase the risk of

exposing the public to pathogens affecting public health. Although vast improvements have been

made in providing people around the world with clean water and sanitation (WaSH). There are

still people around the world in undeveloped countries that struggle with the availability of clean

water and sanitation. The challenge of providing humans with universal access to safe water

(Sustainable Development Goal 6) needs to be addressed on a global scale.

The quality of water, sanitation and hygiene is greatly affected by a person social

economic status (SES). SES is broken down into three classes (high, medium and low) a person

that lives in a low social economic class lives in poverty and usually in an undeveloped country.

These people deal with the daily challenge of obtaining clean water for bathing, cooking,

drinking and cleaning. Not being able to perform these activities of daily living (ADL’s) which

involve the need for clean water places a person at risk for waterborne diseases. Waterborne

disease that typically lead to diarrhea and severe vomiting include cholera, typhoid and

dysentery. Severe vomiting and diarrhea lead to fluid volume deficits (FVD) which in turn clean

water is needed to replace that fluid loss. If dirty water is used to replaced fluid in the body, then
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it prolongs hydration and can quickly result in death. This viscous cycle increases morbidity and

exposes the young and the old to mortality. Morbidity and mortality are also increased or

decreased by the handling of sanitation. Sanitation is the process that relates to public health by

having an appropriate method for the disposal of waste. The challenges of finding effective

methods for disposing waster are often over looked by government. This results in poor densely

populated areas that deal with waste management issues and open defecation practices. Open

defecation practices are also concerning to public health because it can lead to disease like polio,

trachoma and hepatitis.

Providing people with access to clean water and proper sanitation are basic human rights.

The challenges that come with having clean water and proper sanitation must be addressed.

Addressing these challenges consist of creating a public water system and locations (landfills)

were waste could be disposed of properly. These designated areas are called landfills and they

separate waste from surrounding areas. Landfills decreases contamination in the surrounding

environment and preserves aquifers and groundwater. Preserving ground water and springs

allows for increased access to clean water. Public locations (community pools) and waste

management facilities can also be in place to collect water and dispose waste created by humans.

Although increasing access to clean water and creating or improving system to rids trash and

human waste improves public health. The services that these facilities provide must be regulated

and enforced by government. Although governments in developing countries are having the

difficulty of developing and preserving facilities for water and sanitation. There are global

programs in places to help increase assess to clean water and increase knowledge about the

importance of sanitation. Global programs like The Water Project, UN-Water, Wello and

AQUAtap are improving living condition by providing clean water.

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Having access to clean water must be in place for long term use so that it can be

effective. In most under develop countries water is collected by natural water holes that both

people and animals use. Not only is this method unsafe but it is also unhealthy due to the

increase risk of being exposed to communicable disease (zoonosis). It is important for countries

to develop water pumps and wells were people can gather to obtain clean underground water.

These effective methods provide a location were people gather to collect water and receive

education on proper methods to collect and handle clean water. Methods of collecting clean

water need to be provided in order to continue the process of dieses prevention. Transportation of

water needs to occur with proper containers designed to carry and store water. Other methods of

collecting water is rainwater harvesting. This method is a passive process that allows people to

catch rainwater that could be stored, treated (Chlorine and Iodine) and used for activities of daily

living. Similar methods of harvesting clean water consist of dew and fog harvesting. This simple

method involves harvesting nets that are placed vertically to catch fog droplets which flow into a

reservoir. Developing countries that are surrounded by salt water rivers can benefit from

desalination. Desalination is a process of removing salt from seawater by boiling water and

capturing the steam. The power of the sun can also be used in the process of creating clean

water. This method is called Solar Water Disinfections (SODIS) method and is an inexpensive

way of providing clean water to developing countries. The process involves the collection of

water in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle which are placed under direct sunlight for hours.

The SODIS method kills bacteria, viruses and parasites by eliminating it with UV-A rays

regardless of low air and water temperatures.

Effective systems that involving waste management need to be in place to decrease

mortality and morbidity. A system that is not effective with managing waste regardless of the
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availability of clean water will still lead to diseases. Open defecation practices not only pollute

the environment with human feces such as bacteria, viruses and parasite but also exposes women

to other risk. Risk involved with open defecation leaves women vulnerable to rape and attacks.

Skolnik (2016) states “Failure to dispose properly of human waste contaminates water and food

sources and lad to an increase in transmission of pathogens through the oral-fecal route” p. 175-

176. Clean and safe locations need to be provided for the proper collection of human waste and

the prevention of violence. Defecation is not the only concern that needs to be address when

discussing the importance of sanitation. Each day humans generate about 5 pounds of trash and

method need to be in place to collect it. Low income families in undeveloped countries live in

crowded towns that are often over looked by government. When a town is over looked by

government there are no regulations in place to help with the elimination of trash. Low SES

families in undeveloped countries live in constant trash or landfills due unenforced laws and

regulations. We live in a planet with finite resources and much can be learned from the Zero

Waste philosophy. This philosophy involves recycling and reusing waste that humans create to

improve our environment and save cost. Waste that is created by humans can be decomposed and

used for agriculture. Not only is this philosophy beneficial to the environment but has the

potential to generate job opportunities for countries that have a high rate of unemployment.

Nurses understand the importance of education and with education comes knowledge.

Knowledge is power and is a valuable tool in the fight against increased mortality and morbidity

as a result of poor WaSH. In undeveloped counties diarrhea due to poor WaSH is the number one

killer in the elderly and children. Teaching effective hygiene practices and proper handwashing

techniques is a low-cost method in the fight against waterborne disease. Skolnik (2016) informs

us that “They also found that hygiene promotion efforts need to focus on simple messages about
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handwashing and avoid trying to promote too many messages at once, if they are to be successful

and sustainable” p. 181. Proper education through training aids can also help identify methods to

purify water by filtering, boiling, distilling or chlorination. Education can be provided near local

water sources on the signs and symptoms of water borne disease that can help family member

identify when their loved ones have been exposed to these invisible killers. Education can also be

provided on the times and places were clean resources of water are available in the area.

In conclusion, there has been advancements in creating the availability of clean water and

sanitation. Yet there are still developing countries around the world that are still dealing with

poor water and sanitation. The availability of clean water and proper sanitation is a basic human

right and must be addressed on a global scale. Due to technological advancement, diseases are no

longer bound by countries nor are diseases bound by social economic status. Diseases don’t

judge a person’s age, gender or status and can lead to epidemic or pandemics. We are bound by

human righteousness and there is a need for global citizens who want to take action on facing

some of the challenges that most tend to ignore.

References

Centers for Disease Control. (2013). Hygiene Fast Facts. Retrieved from

https://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/wsh_diarrhoea/en/

Drinking-water. (2018, February 7). Retrieved April 24, 2019, from

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

Skolnik, Richard. (2016). Global Health 101 (3rd edition). Burlington, MA:Jones & Bartlett
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Learning

United Nation. (n.d). Clean Water and Sanitation. Retrieved from

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

World Health Organization. Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and the prevention of

diarrhoea. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/wsh_diarrhoea/en/

https://borgenproject.org/water-for-developing-countries/