Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions, and Preventive Measures

The drought and famine once again blighting the Horn of Africa brings with it an unwelcome reminder that for all of mankind’s achievements we are yet to eradicate the scourge of poverty or provide clean water, sanitation or basic health care for the world’s most desperate people.

In her new title Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Environment: Challenges, Interventions and Preventive Measures, published in collaboration with Horizon International, Janine Selendy explores the close relationship between sanitation, clean water supply and the environment to outline strategies for the prevention and eradication of water and sanitation-related diseases.

Written by experts from the fields of public health, medicine, epidemiology, environmental health, climate change, environmental engineering, and population research, this authoritative volume provides a thorough understanding of the interconnection among many factors linked to water related diseases, sanitation, and hygiene. It is brought together by Selendy who founded Horizon International, a non-profit organisation based at Yale University, in 1976.

“Horizon seeks to find and advance solutions thereby supporting ideas and initiatives that aim to inform and inspire positive action. We use peer-reviewed science and case studies from affected areas to examine interrelated issues including the environment and public health,” said Selendy. “The comprehensive chapters in Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Environment, reveal the interdisciplinary approach which is essential to finding answers to some of the world’s most urgent problems.”

Divided into eight sections Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and the Environment, presents an analysis of the conditions responsible for water and sanitation-related diseases including the significance of the close relationships among water access, quality and hygiene.

The publication covers access to and the maintenance of clean water, and includes guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta and greywater along with examples of solutions; this is presented with an emphasis on what is actually achievable in the real world, considering that 2.6 billion individuals have no toilets and 1.2 billion people are exposed to water-related illness from their drinking water.

Later chapters are dedicated to the role of environmental factors as well as the health impacts of human factors such as dam construction, irrigation development and flood control.

An accompanying DVD provides a further four hours of supplemental content as well as over 500 maps, tables and illustrations. A companion website will also include further updates and additional resources.

“Meeting water and sanitation needs, coupled with protection of the environment and prevention of pollutants, is essential to every effort to improve the health and living conditions of billions of people, said Selendy. “Meeting these needs is fundamental, not only to effectively diminish incidence of diseases that afflict a third or more of the people of the world, but also to improve education and economic well-being and elevate billions of individuals out of vicious cycles of poverty.”

“The preventive measures and solutions presented here provide guidance for possible action on the local, national and international levels,” concluded Selendy. “The problems of water quality and related diseases are international and they are complex, but the research represented here demonstrates how collaborative science can help us unravel the complex and build a better world.”