The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an Urgent Security - Unu-inweh ...

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2.2 Water and Health Security Ganesh Pangare Head, Water Programme (Asia), IUCN Asia Regional Office, Thailand Lisa Idris Programme Officer, Water Programme (Asia), IUCN Asia Regional Office, Thailand
Introduction Clean and safe water is an important resource in building healthy and progressive communities. By widening and enhancing access to clean and safe water, nine percent of the global burden of disease can be alleviated and 3.5 million deaths can be prevented annually (Prüss-Üstün et al., 2008). The socio-economic impacts from the prevention of water-related deaths and diseases are tremendous; for each US $1 invested in improving access to water, communities reap benefits in productive time and avoidance of treatment costs worth between US $2-$12 (Edwards, 2011). Today, safe water supply evades some 780 million people, or approximately 11% of the world’s population (UNICEF and World Health Organization, 2012). From an overall perspective, this is a marked improvement from 1990, where almost one-quarter of the global population did not have access to clean and safe water. However, these improvements were mostly made in East and South Asia; countries in the sub-Saharan Africa and Pacific regions still lack adequate access, with each region registering water supply coverage of 61% and 54% respectively (UNICEF and WHO, 2012). It is no coincidence that cholera, a disease that thrives where there are deficits in water and sanitation, is prevalent in both these regions 1 . As efforts continue to connect the growing global population to safe water supply, considerations need to be afforded to demographic, economic and social pressures. These pressures not only affect access, but also the quantity and quality of water supplies. Mounting pressures could cause increases in a country’s virtual water need, that is, the water used to produce goods and services. Higher consumption of virtual water not only affects the sustainability of access of communities already linked to water supplies, but also the availability of water to communities that have not gained access to water as resources are diverted to meet other existing demands (see Box 1 on Water Shortages in China). This paper examines the linkages between water security (in terms of quantity and quality) and human health, summarizes potential health impacts from water deficits, and examines the implications for socio-economic development. Box 1. Water Shortages in China China faces water shortages from the singular and interactive effects of high water losses through supply infrastructure, effluent contamination, and rising water demand from the agricultural sector. These shortages greatly affect food production, the largest water user in China (constituting 71% of China’s total freshwater demand) (Amarasinghe et al., 2005). As a workaround solution to fulfill domestic demand for food, China has begun to establish farms in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Kenya, Russia and Zimbabwe (Economy, 2011). China’s virtual water consumption has clearly grown, but the burden of meeting this demand has been shifted to other countries. 1. Water Quality and Health Rivers, lakes, and aquifers are vulnerable to pollutants, which intensify the occurrence of water-related diseases by impairing water use, and introduce new health risks associated with the presence of pollutants in the human body. Pollutants can be broadly categorized as human-induced, or naturally occurring. Human-induced pollutants enter waterways through unmitigated discharge of untreated or insufficiently treated domestic and industrial wastewater (point sources), and agricultural run-off (non-point source). Pollutants that occur naturally, also termed geogenic pollutants, are usually found in groundwater. The concentration of geogenic pollutants in groundwater resources may be aggravated by human activities that infiltrate or fracture the surrounding rock or substrata. 1 In 2009, of the 206,183 cases of cholera reported worldwide, 98.7% cases occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, with the remainder occurring in the Pacific (World Health Organization, 2011b). Water and Health Security Part 2 77
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The Global Water Crisis: Addressing
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About the InterAction Council Estab
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
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The undeniable seriousness of the g
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Foreword xiii
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The Global Water Crisis: Framing th
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Ethical considerations also need to
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3. Support Ratification of the UN W
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1 Water and Global Security
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Introduction Since the serious stat
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Jury and Vaux project that the numb
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5. The Potential for Conflict and t
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References Cullen, H., 2010. The We
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Introduction Water is an integral p
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shortage Statewide Regional Local N
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summer months. To alleviate the con
Page 39 and 40: References Department of Energy, 20
Page 41 and 42: Introduction Water, economic and en
Page 43 and 44: Economic analyses of ecosystem good
Page 45 and 46: • Managing for sustainability. De
Page 47 and 48: Richter, B.D., M.M. Davis, C. Apse
Page 49 and 50: Introduction Water is an essential
Page 51 and 52: early post-Cold War period, from a
Page 53 and 54: 2.4. Water, conflicts, and institut
Page 55 and 56: Renaud et al. (2011) proposed a pre
Page 57 and 58: Carius, A., D. Tänzler and A. Maas
Page 59 and 60: Turton, A.R., 2004. “The Evolutio
Page 61 and 62: Introduction In the West Asia and N
Page 63 and 64: 2. Water in the WANA Region 2.1. De
Page 65 and 66: Following on this, during a persona
Page 67 and 68: Below are some suggestions for how
Page 69 and 70: plants through evapo-transpiration)
Page 71 and 72: WANA Forum, 2010b. Toward Supra-nat
Page 73 and 74: Introduction “The trouble with wa
Page 75 and 76: • Upgrading current water infrast
Page 77 and 78: 60,000 ventilation improved pit lat
Page 79 and 80: 5. The Bottom Line It is widely ack
Page 81: The Blue Economy: Risks and Opportu
Page 84 and 85: 2.1 A Human Development Approach to
Page 86 and 87: apparatus assists nation-states in
Page 88 and 89: By ensuring that the international
Page 92 and 93: 1.1. Human-induced Pollutants Domes
Page 94 and 95: Table.1. Water pollutants and human
Page 96 and 97: In many urban and semi-urban areas,
Page 98 and 99: 2.3 Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and
Page 100 and 101: 1. The Impacts of Poor Water, Sanit
Page 102 and 103: 77 64 2015 MDG target Coverage (%)
Page 104 and 105: 3. The Neglect of the WASH Sector a
Page 106 and 107: References Checkley, W., G. Buckley
Page 108 and 109: 2.4 Water, Food and the Development
Page 110 and 111: 2. Keeping Pace with Change Since t
Page 112 and 113: one and has yet to attain widesprea
Page 114 and 115: 2.5 Investing in Women’s Particip
Page 116 and 117: of agriculture resulting mainly fro
Page 118 and 119: their substantial contribution is p
Page 120 and 121: Although cultural constraints still
Page 122 and 123: UNEP, 2009. Water Security and Ecos
Page 124 and 125: 2.6 Water Governance Reform in Afgh
Page 126 and 127: 1.2. The Extreme risk of food secur
Page 128 and 129: Furthermore, within each basin, lan
Page 130 and 131: 3.2. Early doubts vis-à-vis progre
Page 132 and 133: transboundary water management conc
Page 135 and 136: 3 Will the Right to Water Alleviate
Page 137 and 138: Introduction A growing number of ar
Page 139 and 140: 2. Ethical Perspectives on State Ob
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References Barlow, Maude, 2007. Blu
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Introduction It is widely recognize
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Later in 2010, the UN Human Rights
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3.2. Legislative Recognition Dozens
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Mandela, M., 2002. No Water, No Fut
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Introduction South Africans have a
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water per person per day. The appli
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References Bluemel, E. B., 2004.
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Introduction Water conflicts are nu
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4. Water Policies and Their Impact
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y its interconnection to encompass
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Access to Water and Conflict: An In
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Response from the InterAction Counc
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As former U.S. President Mr. Bill C
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The InterAction Council Québec Dec
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List of Participants
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List of Participants: 29 th Annual
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