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Guess how many times the Bible names water. 25 times? 50?
Try 722 times. Perhaps that helps explain why water is the single symbol shared by every world religion. Used throughout rituals to cleanse, purify and sanctify, water is the foundation for all life. But that turns out not to be true, in of all places, hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world.
Click here to go back to the Main Featured Issues page
Guess how many times the Bible names water. 25 times? 50?
Try 722 times. Perhaps that helps explain why water is the single symbol shared by every world religion. Used throughout rituals to cleanse, purify and sanctify, water is the foundation for all life. But that turns out not to be true, in of all places, hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world.
This photo is not from the 19th century (photo: Oxfam International)
During the middle Ages, Europeans -- and much of the world -- lived in filth with poor hygiene and practically no sanitation. Life-expectancy measured in the teens. It not only endangered mothers and newborns, epidemics and diseases like bubonic plague, typhus, smallpox and tuberculosis (“consumption”) thrived in this dirty environment, taking a massive toll on humanity.
Cleanliness simply wasn’t a priority and little improvement was made until the mid- to late- nineteenth century when the Industrial Revolution and the discovery of the germ theory of disease brought to light good hygiene and sanitation as a necessity for public health.
Florence Nightingale was the driving force for hospital reform. She convinced the world that improving hygiene and sanitation, as well as having trained professional nurses tend to the sick, were necessities. Today we call it WASH: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. It’s vital to healthcare and it’s shockingly absent.
- Adapted from an article on the history of medicine by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., editor emeritus of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).
Cleanliness simply wasn’t a priority and little improvement was made until the mid- to late- nineteenth century when the Industrial Revolution and the discovery of the germ theory of disease brought to light good hygiene and sanitation as a necessity for public health.
Florence Nightingale was the driving force for hospital reform. She convinced the world that improving hygiene and sanitation, as well as having trained professional nurses tend to the sick, were necessities. Today we call it WASH: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. It’s vital to healthcare and it’s shockingly absent.
- Adapted from an article on the history of medicine by Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., editor emeritus of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS).
Fast-forward to 2014: Ebola causes global panic and exposes deadly healthcare.
Doctors Without Borders says a key reason the Ebola virus spread was due to limited access to safe running water. Many family members and healthcare workers who came in contact with an infected person or the deceased could not effectively wash their hands.
But wait…for almost 200 years, we’ve known that safe water and sanitation are vital to the prevention, treatment and containment of disease (thanks to the Industrial Revolution and Florence Nightingale). Is Doctors Without Borders’ allegation really true?
Dr. Jamie Bartram runs the prestigious Water Institute at the University of North Carolina and focuses on the links between water science, policy and practice in developing and developed countries. The World Health Organization, WHO, asked him to survey healthcare facilities in 54 low- and middle- income countries. Here's what he found:
But wait…for almost 200 years, we’ve known that safe water and sanitation are vital to the prevention, treatment and containment of disease (thanks to the Industrial Revolution and Florence Nightingale). Is Doctors Without Borders’ allegation really true?
Dr. Jamie Bartram runs the prestigious Water Institute at the University of North Carolina and focuses on the links between water science, policy and practice in developing and developed countries. The World Health Organization, WHO, asked him to survey healthcare facilities in 54 low- and middle- income countries. Here's what he found:
- 40% of healthcare facilities do not have access to safe water
- 35% do not have soap and water for handwashing
- 20% do not have basic sanitation
It's Worse Than You Think...
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Well into the 21st century, hospitals around the world still look like something out of the 1800s. Given that upwards of 40% of hospitals and healthcare facilities are run by faith-based organizations, to say this is unacceptable is not just an understatement, it changes our shared symbol from the foundation of life into an instrument of disease and even death.
1:2 patients leave the hospital with an infection they did not have upon arrival: “In some developing countries up to one in every two patients (45.6%) left hospital with an infection they had not had on arrival.” click here to read more... The lack of WASH in Health Care Facilities is devastating: “The lack of WASH contributes to millions of infection-related deaths each year. When these infections do not result in death, they can cause prolonged hospital stays, long-term disability, increased antibiotic resistance and economic burden on health-care systems.” click here to read more... |
Overcrowded clinic in Uganda. Photo: GlobalJews.org
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Sink but no water, health center in Ethiopia. Photo: Village Health Partnership
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WASH and safe births:
“Encouraging women to give birth in healthcare facilities is one of the key strategies for reducing maternal mortality. Yet even in the very facilities that are set up to serve their communities with healthcare and welcome new life into the world, there is often no constant clean water supply, functioning toilets or handwashing facilities.” click here to read more... “Bring your own” birthing kit: “In some cases, women giving birth must buy their own ‘clean birth kit’, which includes a plastic sheet and gloves to compensate for the lack of adequate hygiene provision in maternity units.” click here to read more... Newborns and sepsis: “8% of maternal mortality is caused by sepsis. A failure to make sure that a woman has a clean place to give birth, that a midwife, birth attendant or doctor has clean hands when helping her deliver, and that the blade which separates the child from his mother by cutting the umbilical cord is clean puts a baby at risk. The absence of sufficient infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities should be of particular concern to those attempting to redress the slow progress to reduce maternal mortality globally.” click here to read more... |
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50 % of the health burden of malnutrition is attributable to WASH:
“Diarrhea is deadly. 1.5 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases (including cholera); 90% are children under 14, mostly in developing countries. 88% of diarrhea is attributed to unsafe water supply, inadequate sanitation and hygiene. As diarrhea causes undernutrition, it creates a vicious cycle by also reducing a child’s resistance to subsequent infections; repeated bouts of diarrhea can negatively impact children’s physical and cognitive development.” click here to read more... WASH and HIV/AIDS: “HIV-positive people cannot be treated without clean water, in the hospital and at home. Anti-Retroviral drugs (ARVs) are essential to enable people living with HIV/AIDS to lead healthy and productive lives. Their consumption requires approximately 1.5 litres of safe water every day.” click here to read more... For more information: |
Overcrowded clinic in Malawi. Photo: Oxfam International
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CASE STUDY: VILLAGE HEALTH PARTNERSHIP (VHP)
“I recently found myself in a packed labor and delivery ward. When an unexpected twin was born not breathing, we had no choice. With almost no protective gear, two nurses I’d brought with me jumped in and saved the baby. Covered with blood, we just had to hope no mother or child we came in contact with that day was infected with HIV, hepatitis... We had no way to clean up because this massive, overcrowded hospital that serves 2.5 million people, had had no water in six weeks.”
- Margaret “Migs” Muldrow, MD Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Founder, Village Health Partnership
Asked to review WASH (water/sanitation/hygiene) in 13 rural health care facilities in Ethiopia earlier this year, Dr. Muldrow shared her findings with FIA. Without exception, every hospital and clinic went through periods of having no water.
- Margaret “Migs” Muldrow, MD Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Founder, Village Health Partnership
Asked to review WASH (water/sanitation/hygiene) in 13 rural health care facilities in Ethiopia earlier this year, Dr. Muldrow shared her findings with FIA. Without exception, every hospital and clinic went through periods of having no water.
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At this health center serving some 53,000 people, there is just one latrine, no shower, and two donkeys make 20 trips a day to transport water from a river 1.5 miles away. It’s clear the donkeys cannot meet the facility’s needs, but the staff does much with little; the place is clean and organized. |
Photo: Village Health Partnership
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Photo: Village Health Partnership
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At this main referral facility mothers give birth, side-by-side, sometimes three at a time. When very busy, the mothers clean up their blood and bodily fluids with their own clothes and rags to make way for the next women about to give birth. Blood covers the walls and exam tables. Mothers are afraid to deliver here but they are also afraid to die in labor at home. |
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This pit latrine is impossible to keep clean; these will often overflow during rainy season, sending sewage into healthcare compounds. “Ethiopians work very hard to solve their issues. They are also deeply ashamed of the level of poverty and won’t talk about sanitation for fear outsiders will react with judgment. I have anything but judgment. I have hope. Though one of the most desperate places in terms of maternal and child health, mortality rates are dropping in areas where international assistance and the Ethiopian government have reach. And we’re learning that local commitment is vital to creating sustainable health systems. But it seems to me that we shouldn’t have to learn that water is, too.” - Margaret “Migs” Muldrow, MD Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Founder, Village Health Partnership |
Photo: Village Health Partnership
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So much is happening this Fall
and water security links it all:
- Oct 2: International Day of Non-Violence: More peace than war has been negotiated with water
- Oct 11: International Day of the Girl Child: Girls attend school when they are healthy, don’t have to help their mothers haul heavy cans of water for miles every day, and have sanitation facilities, especially when they reach puberty.
- Oct 15: Global Hand-washing day: People prevent disease when they can adequately wash their hands with soap and water.
- Oct. 16: World Food Day: Water security means families know they can grow food and children can absorb nutrients and stave off under-nutrition.
- Nov. 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: Escaping the cycle of poverty requires water security so that families can stay healthy, grow food, work, keep health costs low and keep kids in school.
- Nov. 19: World Toilet Day: No invention has saved more lives than the toilet.
- Nov. 20: Universal Children’s Day: Simple hygiene prevents newborn death; safe water and toilets keep kids healthy and in school; futures depend on it.
- Nov. 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women: Women and girls are safest when they do not have to seek a bit of privacy at night just to relieve themselves.
We can name all the international days we want, but none can be achieved and celebrated when water insecurity endangers human security.
That's not what a religious symbol is meant to be.
Photo: USAID
But hope could be on the horizon. Here's why:
We’ve got the technology, what we need is priority:
The only foreign assistance bill to pass the prior congress was the Water for the World Act of 2015, which prioritizes water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH] assistance based on greatest need. And the need improve unsafe drinking water for children, a leading cause of malnourishment and stunting (lifelong cognitive impairment), was wisely written into the Global Food Security Act of 2016.
Anyone who thinks effectiveness of investment is key, including water and sanitation throughout health and development work is key to success. WASH doesn’t just cure, it prevents:
Please check out our Clergy Resources for lots of way you, your kids and your faith community can take simple action for real change.
The only foreign assistance bill to pass the prior congress was the Water for the World Act of 2015, which prioritizes water, sanitation and hygiene [WASH] assistance based on greatest need. And the need improve unsafe drinking water for children, a leading cause of malnourishment and stunting (lifelong cognitive impairment), was wisely written into the Global Food Security Act of 2016.
Anyone who thinks effectiveness of investment is key, including water and sanitation throughout health and development work is key to success. WASH doesn’t just cure, it prevents:
- Improved water supply reduces diarrhea morbidity by 21%.
- Improved sanitation reduces diarrhea morbidity by 37.5%.
- Simply handwashing with soap can reduce diarrheal episodes by about 45%.
- When children wash their hands, healthy global development indicators like height, weight, and social skills increase as do and child well‐being and social productivity.
Please check out our Clergy Resources for lots of way you, your kids and your faith community can take simple action for real change.