250,000 die annually in Pakistan due to unsafe water

ISLAMABAD - An estimated 250,000 children die annually in Pakistan due to water-borne diseases, reported local media APP on Wednesday.

Unsafe drinking water is the source of many diseases including diarrhea, typhoid, intestinal worms and hepatitis, the report quoted a local health expert as saying.

It has been reported that an estimated 62 percent of urban population and 84 percent of rural population in Pakistan do not decontaminate their water and as a result 100 million cases of diarrhea diseases are registered in hospitals and 40 percent of deaths are caused by polluted water. ?

Dr. Aslam Tahir, Chairman of Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), said diarrhea and typhoid mortality in children accounts for the bulk of losses, reflecting the vulnerability of children to these diseases.

He said the total health costs are estimated at 114 billion rupees ($1.28 billion), or approximately 1.81 percent of GDP. The high proportions of costs due to premature child deaths, followed by the mortality impacts of typhoid in the older population are striking, he said.

A study conducted by UNICEF found that 20 to 40 percent of the hospital beds in Pakistan are occupied by patients suffering from water-related diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery and hepatitis, which are responsible for one third of all deaths.

Chairman PCRWR said that the water-borne diseases are responsible for substantial human and economic losses. These include the loss of million of working hours of productivity annually, and associated costs for health care.

Dr. Aslam Tahir said reduction in the occurrence of water-borne diseases will certainly go a long way in the efforts to alleviate poverty. He said that sanitation, water quality and quantity, public awareness and education are of prime importance to Pakistan in implementing its poverty reduction strategy and especially for those affected by floods.