- Contaminated water or its lack is related to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, other diarrheas, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and poliomyelitis.
- In Latin America, the countries with the greatest risk of hydraulic scarcity are Mexico and Chile.
- Hospitals without this vital liquid put both patients and their workers at risk.
The work carried out by all health centers in the world is essential to take care of the well-being of patients. But like any other space, they require supplies to provide adequate care. The problem is that there are several hospitals that are at risk of running out of water. If that happens, tragedies can occur because it is a liquid that is needed for all basic needs.
Distribution of water on the planet
In this case, the World Health Organization (OS) points out that safe and easily accessible water is important for public health. It does not matter if it is used for drinking, for home use, for food production or for recreational purposes. Improving water supply, sanitation and water resource management can boost countries’ economic growth and contribute greatly to poverty reduction.
In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water supply and sanitation. All people have the right to continuous availability of sufficient, safe, physically accessible, affordable water of acceptable quality for personal and domestic use.
The problem is that marked geographic, sociocultural and economic inequalities persist, not only between rural and urban areas, but also within cities. People living in informal, illegal or low-income settlements generally have less access to improved drinking water sources than other residents.
Consequences of lack of water for health
Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, other diarrheas, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and polio. If there is not water and sanitation servicesor if these are insufficient or inappropriately managed, the population will be exposed to preventable health risks.
This is especially true in the case of health facilities, where both patients and professionals are exposed to higher risks of infection and disease when water supply, sanitation and hygiene services are not available. Worldwide, 15% of patients contract infections during hospitalization, a proportion that is much higher in low-income countries.
The regions of the planet with the most hospitals that could run out of water
With respect to the present, data presented in the Ecological Threat Register point out that about 2.6 billion people worldwide live in countries exposed to high and extreme levels of water stress. By 2040, this number could rise to 5.4 billion.
As you can see in the following published map with information from Statisticalhospitals located in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region are particularly at risk of running out of water.
Although they are not the only ones because in Latin America there are two nations in danger. They are Chile and Mexico because they are more vulnerable to water stress. In addition to having vast desert territories, the water crisis has become evident given the strong demand that exists in domestic, industrial and agricultural consumption of available water.
In Europe, Greece and Spain are the States in which the population is most exposed to this environmental problem, consuming between 40% and 80% of the total water resources available to them each year.