Today is international Women’s Day, and health care is just one of the many issues being addressed today. While we celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women, the statistics surrounding the needless deaths of women around the world due to a lack of clean water and safe toilets is sickening.
The international, non-government organization, WaterAid, released a study on Friday detailing the top 10 deadliest diseases for women across the globe. Using data from the Seattle, Washington-based Institute of Health Metrics Research Center, they were able to show that deaths from dirty water and poor sanitation ranked fifth in the 10 leading causes of deaths in women.
The only illnesses more lethal to women than the lack of decent sanitation are heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the report. “This completely unacceptable situation affects women and girls’ education, their health, their dignity and ultimately, in too many cases, results in an early and needless death,” WaterAid CEO Barbara Frost said in a statement.
It is hard to imagine, but one billion women, that’s one in three around the world, do not have access to a safe and private toilet. Over 370 million of these women or one in 10, do not have access to clean water. According to the United Nations, having access to clean water is a human right, and over two billion people between 1990 and 2012 were able to gain access to clean water. This still leaves 750 million people worldwide without clean water.
It may not be too surprising to find out that four out of five deaths of women caused by a lack of clean water and sanitation are in developing countries. Women and young girls often bear the responsibility and burden of finding clean water, often walking miles to a well for water every day, keeping them from caring for families or attending school.
In developing countries, women often give birth at home without a doctor or midwife in attendance, and under less than sanitary conditions. Maternal and infant mortality rates are higher than in industrialized nations. In way too many places in the world, women and girls have no safe place to relieve themselves, often needing to go outdoors at night, leaving them open to sexual assault or harassment.
