Water-related diseases cost 443 million school days a year.
More than 150 million school-age children are
severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and
hookworm. These children commonly carry up to 1000 parasites at a time,
causing anemia, stunted growth, and other debilitating conditions.
Children who suffer from constant water-related
illnesses carry the disadvantages into school. Poor health directly
reduces cognitive potential and indirectly undermines schooling through
absenteeism, attention deficits, and early drop-out.
“Over half of all schools worldwide lack safe
water and sanitation, jeopardizing the health and education of millions
of schoolchildren. Most of the 115 million children currently out of
school are girls. Many are denied their place in the classroom by lack
of access to decent toilets at school, or the daily chore of walking
miles to collect water.” – UNICEF, 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment