On World Water Day, celebrated every March 22, the United Nations Organization (UN) wanted to highlight that annual deaths caused by consumption of contaminated water they add more than those due to all wars and other forms of violence.
The theme chosen for this year is "Clean water for a healthy world" and the celebration emphasizes both the quality of the liquid and the amount of water resources that are in danger. If two million tons of waste are thrown annually into the planet's water sources, we can imagine the risks.
The figures are shocking, because they tell us that every 20 seconds a child under five years dies from diseases related to contaminated water. In a world, our first world, in which opening the tap and receiving drinking water is the most natural, seems unthinkable, however it is a reality for millions of children.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), half of the people admitted to hospitals worldwide contracted some disease due to contaminated water.
AdvertisingIf not We teach our children that we must take care of the environment To preserve natural resources, the future will be worse. Today millions of tons of solid waste are released to rivers and oceans every day, polluting marine life and spreading diseases that cause the deaths of millions of children every year.
Black water, industrial pollution, agricultural pesticides and animal feces are the main evils for the waters of the planet. The report prepared on the occasion of World Water Day reveals that the lack of clean water causes the death of 1.8 million children under five years of age each year, many from diarrhea.
Poor and developing countries are the most affected, but from the first world we can act: water recycling, the execution of water treatment and channeling works, environmental and health education, wetland protection, the use of natural fertilizers ... are some of the resources that are in our hands.
To achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) before 2015, some points related to water quality must be met:
Reduce by half, by 2015, the percentage of people who lack sustainable access to drinking water and basic sanitation services.
The achievement of this goal will depend on the achievement of another not less important one: reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality of children under 5 years of age and infant mortality in general.
World Water Day is a good date to remind us that many children continue to die due to lack of drinking water, and that in our hands and those of our children, the men and women of the future, is stopping this tragedy, taking care of our surroundings and helping the most disadvantaged to do so.
