Importance of clean drinking water

A quick survey of the statistics annually released regarding access to clean water in the most impoverished areas around the world reveals a very worrisome trend that requires nothing but the utmost attention and focus of anyone that cares. The canvas foto that is this body of data underscores the importance of clean drinking water, something that may of us may take for granted.

Consider the following numbers:

• 343 million people in Africa alone do not have access to clean drinking water. Another 239 million in East Southeast Asia and Oceania suffer from the same problem. Worldwide, approximately 780 million people, about 13% of the world’s total population, are essentially cut off from clean drinking water.
• About 3.4 million people die each year from water-related diseases. Cutting access to clean drinking water forces people to make do with whatever water they have and this raises their risk of exposure to water-borne diseases. Even a car accident attorney can tell you as much.

These numbers speak of the grim reality that pervades many countries in the world today and in the process act as snooker cues to the pressing problem at hand. An American can consume more water during a five-minute water than the average person in a Third World country consumes in a whole day. In the same vein, statistics show that there are more people worldwide who have a mobile phone than there are people who have access to a clean toilet.

The very nature of human existence forces us to depend on water as a vital resource. From ancient times up until today, our need for water has never changed. The importance of clean water is deeply rooted in our basic needs but also because it is essential for disease prevention. Without it, we see statistics like that reported by UNICEF and the World Health Organization in 2009 which details that “lack of access to clean water and sanitation kill children at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.

While there are efforts to help remedy this gruesome situation, the truth is that many of us pay more attention to the temple run game in our mobile phones than we do to the plight of many people who are less privileged than us. In the meantime, lack of social impetus to help those who are in need, the dearth of financial investments in this regard, the continuing apathy towards people who equally deserve the right to such a basic need pushes us forward into an even starker contrast in wealth, social situation, and quality of life.

You don’t have to keep on watching movie trailers online to embrace this reality and to commit to making a difference in this regard. At the very least, you can place a donation to the United Nations Children’s Fund as it pushes to implement water-related projects in an impoverished area near you. UNICEF has chapters in almost every country of the world, leading the charge to give children access to their basic rights, including access to clean drinking water.

If you are reading this, you are more than likely to have the means to help. A $1-donation can help reap positive returns, as much as $34 in certain situations, for these underprivileged individuals. Make your concern count by helping someone get access to clean drinking water today!