Tag Archives: World Water Week

NTDs are on a Roll in Sweden

john a. kufuor, WASH, Water and Sanitation, ,

 

Former President of Ghana John Kufuor speaks at World Water Week. (Photo by Worldwaterweek)

Former President of Ghana John Kufuor speaks at World Water Week. (Photo by Worldwaterweek)

What do you call a room full of the world’s leading water and toilet specialists? A Charmin group!

Last week, His Excellency John Kufuor, President of Ghana (2001-2009), travelled to Sweden to meet with such a group at the Stockholm International Water Institute’s (SIWI) World Water Week, an annual week-long conference that has been the focal point for the globe’s water issues since 1991. As the Global Network’s Special Envoy for NTDs and Chair of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), President Kufuor represented the dual (and closely connected) issues of NTDs and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

As I highlighted last week, poor communities typically lack access to the essential protective measures of clean water, sanitation facilities and soap for good hygiene, leaving them at much higher risk of coming into contact with NTDs or the insects that spread them. As a result, NTDs continue to keep communities poor and without sufficient access to clean water and sanitation.

For this reason, the Global Network was thrilled to join President Kufuor as he worked to increase awareness about the vital links between NTDs and WASH. In partnership with the Global Network and SWA, he encouraged strong political will to support NTD and WASH initiatives and called for heightened collaboration between the two communities. President Kufuor acted as a powerful voice for NTDs and WASH during his remarks at the Stockholm World Water Prize Seminar, the Africa Day ministerial session, and at several other events throughout the week, and was also praised in the media for his efforts to help the world’s poorest communities.

In his remarks at the Stockholm World Water Prize Seminar, which celebrated Dr. Peter Morgan as the 2013 Water Prize Laureate, President Kufuor stated, “I am confident that improving access to clean water and sanitation and fighting diseases, such as roundworm, hookworm and snail fever, are among the best investments governments can make.”

Beyond his official duties at the conference itself, President Kufuor conducted several high level meetings with representatives from the Swedish and French governments to discuss how they can leverage their investments in water initiatives to simultaneously tackle NTDs.

The Global Network thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with SWA at World Water Week and hopes that this initial partnership will soon lead to substantial improvements for the 1.4 billion people who have NTDs and the astounding 2.5 billion people who lack access to basic sanitation.

It was another busy week for the Global Network but there is still much more work to do; good thing we are not pooped out yet!

 

A Royal Case of Worms

NTDs, Water and Sanitation,

 

King_RichardEveryone knows that neglected tropical diseases typically affect the poorest and most marginalized communities. However, this has not always been the case. After studying the soil surrounding King Richard III’s skeleton, researchers concluded today that the fifteenth-century king of England suffered from a mild case of roundworm. Soil samples from where his intestines would have been show multiple roundworm eggs, which can be preserved for hundreds of years under the right conditions. (Richard III died in battle at the age of 32, and his burial location was lost to history until his skeleton was discovered by archeologists in 2012 under a parking lot in Leicester.)

NTDs have plagued humanity for centuries and were common even in England during the reign of Richard III. But why is it unlikely that you’d get an NTD in the UK today?

In fact, if you have the resources to protect yourself, it is unlikely that you would be infected with an NTD anywhere. While the rich and poor were susceptible to NTDs in the past, today, only the poor in developing countries―the bottom billion―are at high risk. Geography plays a role (NTDs like warm, moist places), but living standards are the most significant determining factor.

Poor communities typically lack access to the essential protective measures of clean water, sanitation facilities, soap for good hygiene, and improved housing, and are thus at much higher risk of coming into contact with parasites or the insects that spread them. By introducing these measures, along with shoes for added protection and free medications to treat current infections, communities can start down to the path to being NTD-free. Too bad Richard III didn’t know that!

For this reason, President Kufuor and the Global Network team are in Stockholm this week to attend the Stockholm International Water Institute’s World Water Week. In partnership with Sanitation and Water for All, President Kufuor is working to promote long term NTD solutions by integrating mass drug administration with programs for water, sanitation and hygiene.

Look out next week for our follow up blog from World Water Week, where we will report back on President Kufuor’s high-level advocacy activities.

A Great African Statesman and One of the Nicest People You Could Ever Meet

Africa, WASH, ,

 

Exray Foto Sanjay 1Sanjay Wijesekera, Chief of WASH, UNICEF talks about H.E. John Kufuor’s visit to World Water Week in Stockholm

It is a great honour to be at World Water Week in Stockholm with HE John Kufuor, especially as he was President during my time in Ghana between 2005 and 2008.  Not only is he a great African statesman, but he is one of nicest people you could ever meet.  The President is Chair of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) and Special Envoy to the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, and these two initiatives have particular resonance at this, the world’s foremost annual gathering of water and sanitation experts.  The Global Network for NTDs seeks to bring attention to a group of diseases that continue to cause immense pain and suffering in developing countries, most of which can only be eliminated if there are improvements to sanitation and water.  And the Sanitation and Water for All partnership was created to increase the political will around making those improvements, and to help countries achieve better use of their resources.

This speaks strongly to the mission of UNICEF, and our dedication to protecting the rights of children and helping them to achieve their full potential.  Many of the neglected tropical diseases take a terrible toll on the lives of children.  Trachoma, for instance, causes blindness, and intestinal worms sap children’s strength, leaving them listless, poorly nourished and unable to learn at school.  It is estimated that almost half of the primary school-age children in developing counties carry intestinal worms – an incredible burden of ill-health and lost opportunity.  Better sanitation, safe water and good hygiene practices can help eliminate or control many neglected tropical diseases, and other equally serious health problems such as diarrhoeal disease.

H.E. Kufuor is challenging governments to make water, sanitation, hygiene and the elimination of the diseases they cause a top political priority.  The Sanitation and Water for All partnership will hold its third biennial meeting in 2014, and countries will report to each other on the progress they have made against the commitments they have previously made towards achieving universal access to water and sanitation.  I feel there is cause for optimism that these essential foundations to children’s health and well-being are gaining the highest attention, and that diseases such as trachoma and worms may soon be a part of history.

The Price of Water – Part 2

Water and Sanitation, World Water Week 2011, ,

Below is the second installment of Alanna Shaikh’s two-part series on the cost of water:

By: Alanna Shaikh

If we want people to take water conservation seriously, we’re going to have to make them pay for water. How can we do that in a way that’s fair to poor and vulnerable populations?

So, you’ve got a country with a water system that can be metered. You also believe that water is a human right. What do you do?

You find a middle ground. Our options don’t actually have to consist of Central-Asia style water waste or some kind of grim future where poor people die of thirst, like Dickens where H20 replaces the porridge.

The option I like best goes like this: you get a certain amount of water for free — a reasonable amount per household, based on household size. Everything you use beyond that amount, you pay for; you would set that additional fee high so that the extra fees cover the cost of maintaining the water system. Yes, it makes things like swimming pools or long showers as luxuries, but that seems right to me. A swimming pool is not a human right. Drinking water and good health are.

Kofi Annan framed water and sanitation as a human right during his tenure as UN secretary general, “Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human right.” And I agree, but access to unlimited water just hurts your community, your environment, and eventually yourself. Enough water and unlimited water are two very different creatures. Continue reading →