2,000 children die of diarrhoea in Africa daily- WaterAid

Every day about 2,000 children in Africa die of diarrhoea caused by drinking dirty water, the WaterAid country representative, Alice Anukur has said.  

 

Anukur said these deaths are preventable through provision of safe drinking water and sanitation to the communities. She said 75% of the diseases in Uganda is as a result of lack of clean water and proper sanitation.

 

“In order to improve health and have a productive work force, we must invest in water and sanitation,” she said.

Anukur was recently speaking in Amuria, a district where only a few people can access safe drinking water. She explained that chances of children dropping out of school due to lack of access to safe water are also high because children need water all the time.

 

“To keep the children in schools, we need proper water and sanitation,” said Anukur adding that WaterAid is to build 16 boreholes for Amuria district.

 

She stressed need for the Government to invest more resources in the water sector so as to save thousands of lives. 

Recently, MTN company gave WaterAid Uganda sh230m to improve water situation in Amuria 

district. 

 

- Diarrhoea is transmitted through taking contaminated food or drinks, by direct person-to-person contact or by touching food with contaminated hands. 

 

- Proper hand washing and safe food handling are the most important ways of preventing the spread of germs that cause diarrhoea. 

 

- The World Health Organisation reports that washing hands with soap will reduce diarrhoea by between 30% and 53%.

 

- Children with diarrhoea need to keep drinking a lot of fluids to avoid dehydration. 

 

- Diarrhoea is a water-borne disease. Water-borne diseases are caused by drinking water contaminated with disease causing germs. 

 

- The most common water-borne diseases in Uganda are dysentery, typhoid, and cholera. They are the leading cause of death in developing countries. 

 

- The World Health Organisation reports that over 12 million people die of water-borne diseases worldwide every year.

 

 

 

I would like to thank my teachers at Nyamigisa Boys Primary for making me smart. I was told that when I was younger, I used to be very shabby and I would suffer from stomachache many times. It is now that I realise that it was due to poor hygiene. My teachers fought hard to bring me up. I am now the smartest in the school and I no longer suffer from stomachache. Bravo my teachers! 

 

I would like to thank the New Vision and WaterAid for the good work. Thank you for thinking about us and bringing us the newspapers. We are learning a lot and our teachers are happy. May God bless you.

Godfrey Tumusiime, P6, Kirasa Parents Primary, Masindi

 

I would like to advise my fellow pupils, especially the girls, to bathe in the morning. Girls should also take care so that not every one gets to know when they are in their menstruation periods. 

 

Children in our school do not like to clean the school compound and many of them dodge sweeping. This leaves the school compound dirty. After sweeping we need to put the rubbish in the dust bins. Dust bins should be provided for keeping the rubbish.

 

Thank you WaterAid for sponsoring the WASH programme. We really enjoy reading the newspapers and we have learnt a lot. I would like to request you to provide us with a borehole because our school suffers a lot whenever there is no water in the taps. Our girls are also disturbed by men who sell water making some of them to drop out of school. 

 

Do you have safe drinking water within your school? If you don’t, how long do you walk to access the water and what problems do you meet along the way? Write to us and tell us about it. Send your letters to NIE-WASH project, New Vision, Kampala