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| News: Uganda - Fixing Africa's sanitation will reduce child mortality |
2010-07-26 07:30:00 <PartnersUganda> |
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News: Uganda - Fixing Africa's sanitation will reduce child mortality
Africa News
Afrique en ligne
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KAMPALA Fixing Africa's sanitation will reduce child mortality - For African countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is important to prevent deaths resulting from diarrhoea, which is the biggest killer of children in Africa, said Yunia Musaazi, East African policy adviser for Water Aid.
'Everyday, 2,000 African children die from diarrhoea. These deaths are preventable by providing safe water and maintaining sanitation,' said Musaazi, one of the panelists drawn from civil society organisations across Africa.
Musaazi and her counterparts, who are meeting here ahead of the 15th Ordinary Summit of African leaders 25-27 July, demanded better health services from the leaders.
'African leaders should address issues relating to sanitation and water as one of the major components in reducing maternal and infant mortality in the continent,' Musaazi said in reference the summit's theme, which is how to make rapid progress in addressing the MDGs that deal with the survival of mothers, infants and children.
'With good sanitation and safe water, the lives of mothers and their children could significantly be addressed, thereby reducing the number of deaths from unsafe water and poor sanitation,' she argued. 'An expectant mother needs to deliver from a clean environment. Even after leaving the health centre, she needs to live in a clean environment with clean water for her and the newborn baby.
'Sanitation and safe water could prevent nine out of 10 cases of diarrhea. Using toilets can reduce incidences of diarrhea by nearly 40%. Safe sanitation also reduces other leading causes of child deaths, such as under-nutrition and pneumonia,' Musaazi said.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 28% of child deaths were caused by poor sanitation and lack of access to clean water.
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