Watuwa Timbiti
Although lack of access to safe water and improved sanitation is one aspect most people have taken for granted, the resultant health and economic repercussions cannot be neglected – the toll on human life is immense.
According to WaterAid an international charity organisation that focuses on improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in poor communities the health-threatening effects of unsafe water and lack of improved sanitation have persisted and increased because of low budgetary allocation to the sector.
In its 2013 water and sanitation report following a study done on the accessibility to safe water and improved sanitation in five African countries, it is noted that more needs to be done to improve accessibility.
The study, which was done in Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Niger and Sierra Leone, cites the Government’s failure to fulfil most of the international commitments signed to increase and provide satisfactory and timely funds to the sector as a major cause of low access to safe water.
“Africa cannot afford to ignore the sanitation and water crisis and its daily toll on human life, health, livelihoods and life chances,” the report reads in apart.
The toll on human life, the report notes, is holding back development and costing countries as much as 5% of their GDP each year, noting that poor sanitation is also a primary cause of diarrhoea, which has resulted in annual deaths of 400,000 children in the continent in recent years.
Uganda’s population
Specifically for Uganda, the report projects that the country’s population will double in the next 20 years, observing that the growth rates pose strong challenges for water and sanitation provision.
“Since 1960s, Uganda’s urban population has grown from 4% to 16% of the total population,” the report observes.
The report cites estimates by the UN Habitat that over 60% of African urban dwellers are in slums and most African cities’ water and sanitation infrastructure and services are unable to keep the pace.
Climate change
Climate change, the report adds, is another threat that renders the future for the water and sanitation sector uncertain, since most communities – especially the rural poor – depend on streams and swamps, which dry up during severe droughts and get contaminated during floods.
Poor sanitation more grave
Responding to the report findings that 70% of Ugandans have access to safe water, while only 30% have access to improved sanitation, Rebecca Alowo, the WaterAid head of research, policy and campaigns, says much as the Government has done its part, improved sanitation starts with the individual. She says the above percentages translate into over 15 million Ugandans who do not have access to clean water and sanitation.
Alowo observes that safe water is not only central for the functioning of the vital body organs and processes, but also carries an economic value – it is a key component in industrial processes.
Complexed challenges
“But communities have challenges that are sometimes beyond their capacity to handle,” Alowo observes.
She cites lack of water at some health centres as one of the challenges that compromise sanitation at such a facility and the entire community.
How serious is the problem?
According to a study done last year, Alowo notes, the under-five mortality rate in Uganda due to water and sanitation-related diseases is at 650 per 1,000.
“About 2,000 lives are being saved due to water and sanitation awareness campaigns and with more effort and resources, we can save about 9,000 lives annually,” she affirms.
Alowo observes that Uganda’s budgetary allocation to the water and sanitation sector is still low, with only 0.37% of Uganda’s GDP allocated to water and sanitation development.
She says budgetary allocation to water and sanitation should be at least 0.5% of the GDP, urging the Government to adhere to the various international declarations and treaties it has signed over the years on water and sanitation improvement.
New districts crying louder
The low accessibility to sanitation and safe water, according to Alowo, is most pronounced in the newly created districts.
“These districts do not have water officers, water engineering assistants, county water officers and community development officers, who should do the mobilisation,” she notes.
Overall, according to the report, the socio-economic cost of unsafe water and poor sanitation for Uganda is 1.1 % of the GDP – the cost is manifested through premature deaths, health costs, time spent and productivity losses, thus justifying significant investment in safe water and sanitation.
Additionally, the report highlights an unequal distribution and access to safe water between urban and rural areas in Uganda. For instance, 95% of people in urban areas and 68% of those in the rural areas have access to safe water.
Poor waste management
Access to improved sanitation presents no marked differences between urban and rural areas, but is rather worrying given that only 34% of both rural and urban populations have access to improved sanitation.
Part of the problem to low sanitation levels, Alowo observes, is fuelled by poor solid waste management. She cites the example of Kampala, saying it has almost no clear water source and drainage.
Sanitation needs integration
Alowo argues that other government programmes such as primary healthcare should integrate sanitation in their activities, saying leaving sanitation issues only to the water and health ministries is not feasible.
The report recomends that: “More public funds be committed to sanitation promotion, community mobilisation and subsidising the material, transport and labour for the construction of latrines, particularly for low-income or vulnerable households, such as those with people with disability or living with HIV/AIDS.”
Notably, the report emphasises the need for direct provision for sanitation facilities in schools, health facilities and other public buildings, including public housing, advising that rapid urbanisation requires public investment in sewerage networks and other sanitation infrastructure in towns and cities.
