COVID-19 pandemic: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a critical control measure remains a major challenge in low-income countries

Autor: Paul T. Yillia, Anastasia Wairimu Muia, Evans Atoni, Oscar Omondi Donde
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
medicine.medical_specialty
Environmental Engineering
Sanitation
viruses
media_common.quotation_subject
0208 environmental biotechnology
Developing country
02 engineering and technology
010501 environmental sciences
Making Waves
01 natural sciences
Hygiene
Environmental health
Pandemic
Medicine
Humans
skin and connective tissue diseases
Waste Management and Disposal
Socioeconomic status
Pandemics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Water Science and Technology
Civil and Structural Engineering
media_common
business.industry
Transmission (medicine)
SARS-CoV-2
Ecological Modeling
Mortality rate
Public health
fungi
WASH (Water
Sanitation and Hygiene)
COVID-19
Water
Pollution
respiratory tract diseases
Low-income countries
020801 environmental engineering
body regions
Europe
Ecological Modelling
Africa
business
Zdroj: Water Research
Popis: Highlights • Effective WASH is necessary in the control of SARS-CoV-2 infection. • WASH situation in low income countries is still inadequate for effective control of SARS-CoV-2 infection. • Proper awareness on effective WASH is required under the current SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. • Detection of viral particles in faces, urine and wastewater could serve as early warning on SARS-CoV-2 infection trend.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the deadly respiratory disease called coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing global public health emergency that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. We review literature on the transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the challenges of focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as critical control measures in low-income countries. A significantly higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 related deaths has been reported for the United States of America and other high-income countries in Europe and Asia, regardless of advanced medical facilities in those countries. In contrast, much lower COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality rates have been documented in many low-income countries, despite having comparatively higher socioeconomic burdens and suboptimal medical facilities. By September 29, 2020 over one million deaths have been reported. On the same day, the cumulative total of COVID-19 related morbidity for Africa was 35,954 with 3.5% of the global COVID-19 related deaths. We present arguments for the relatively low COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in many low-income countries and discuss the critical importance of WASH for preventing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. We observe that the key recommendations put forward by the World Health Organization to effectively control the pandemic have been difficult to implement in low-income countries. We conclude that the pandemic reinforces previous pronouncements that adequate and effective WASH measures are crucial for public health and recommend closer coordination between public health and WASH sectors.
Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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