Sanitation, Health and Hygiene in India

 Water is a basic necessity, and an important resource for sustaining life. The decline in water quality endangers the health of humans as well as the ecosystem. Clean drinking water, hygiene, and sanitation play an important part in maintaining health.

Contaminated water causes many water-born infections like diarrhoea, and also serves as a carrier for vectors such as mosquitoes spreading epidemics. Open defecation means no sanitation. It fouls the environment, and spreads diseases. According to WHO-UNICEF report (2010), India has the highest rate of open defecation. Access to safe drinking water and good sanitation are vital for family well-being. It results in control of centeric diseases, and boosts child health problems. A healthy child has better learning and retaining ability. Girls avoid going to school where there are no proper sanitation measures.

Sanitation makes a positive contribution in family literacy. According to a UNICEF study, for every 10 per cent increase in female literacy, a country’s economy can grow by 0.3 per cent. Thus, sanitation contributes to social and economic development of the society. Improved sanitation also helps the environment.

Clean drinking water and good sanitation would  prevent infections with practicing good hygiene. A simple habit of washing hands goes a long way towards preventing diseases. The stored water supply may also serve as a source of infection in the absence of hygiene. 

In India, rapid urbanisation and the increasing population has placed a major strain on the existing infrastructure. It has affected the capacity of the government to provide clean drinking water, and effective sanitation measures. Though the government has tried to overcome this problem through urban development programmes like Clean India Campaign, the total costs required for

successfuloperations continue to mar their efforts. Hence, the contributions of corporations, and other organisations is a welcome change. 

Rural areas have the majority of Indian population. And, they are plagued by multiple issues. Forget about electricity (it has been mostly taken care of, but still issues remain), economy, and more, these areas lack basic necessities — good sanitation facilities.

Hundreds of millions of Indians face sanitation issues in our country. As a result, they have no option other than make do it in the open, even in public places. This is not only embarrassing for a country looking to establish itself on par with global developed economies, but it’s also the seed of multiple problems for the very people engaged in those acts and the surrounding environment. The unhygienic conditions arising out of this also acts as the driver of many water-borne diseases that can also create epidemics. It also creates soil pollution, major loss of biodiversity, crop toxicity, and water pollution. Even if you ignore these problems, consider the fact that defecating in the open may result in a lot of safety hazards for all the citizen . How would you feel if your wife, mother, or children had to go to an open field in the middle of the night to answer nature’s call? It’s unthinkable! But yet, this is the case for millions of women. Sanitation in rural areas can’t be improved through conventional approaches and traditional solutions. It’s time to embrace innovation in the health and hygiene sector.

There are many organisations and public- private collaborations working to improve access to toilets, improving drainage facilities and creating awareness through education campaigns on the importance of preventive tools such as hand washing. Hand washing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia. Poor wash causes diarrhoea, which is the second biggest cause of death in children under five years. According to the Public Health Association, only 53 per cent of the population wash hands with soap after defecation, 38 per cent wash hands with soap before eating and only 30 per cent wash hands with soap before preparing food. Only 11 per cent of the Indian rural families dispose child stools safely. 80 per cent children’s stools are left in the open or thrown into the garbage.

Until now, a number of innovative public health campaigns and programmes to improve health and hygiene have been implemented in India but more needs to be done. These include community-led public-private partnerships to improve access to toilets and awareness campaigns in schools and slums in both urban and rural sectors. There is an urgent need for more such campaigns all across India.