hi all, This is the direct result of the prevailing culture in India. everyting is directed towards old ancient primintive traditions; instead of looking forward to more progressive cultures. Nascy Caldeira
--- On Tue, 21/12/10, D'Souza, Avelino <[email protected]> wrote: > NEW DELHI: Inadequate sanitation cost India almost $54 > billion or 6.4% of the country's GDP in 2006. Over 70% of > this economic impact or about $38.5 billion was > health-related with diarrhoea followed by acute lower > respiratory infections accounting for 12% of the > health-related impacts. > > These estimates are from '' The Economic Impacts of > Inadequate Sanitation in India'', a new report released on > Monday by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), a global > partnership administered by the World Bank . > > Christopher Juan Costain, WSP regional leader for South > Asia pointed out that the report helped to quantify the > economic losses to India due to inadequate sanitation and > also showed that children and poor households bore the brunt > of poor sanitation. > > More than three-fourth of the premature mortality-related > economic losses are due to deaths and diseases in children > younger than five. Diarrhoea among these children accounts > for over 47% of the total health-related impact, that is > nearly $18 billion dollars. > > The report estimates that in rural areas, where 50% of > households are said to have access to improved sanitation, > there are almost 575 million people defecating in the open. > Similarly, in urban areas where 60-70 % of the households > are said to have access to sanitation, 54 million people > defecate in the open and over 60% of the waste water is > discharged untreated. > > This has led to huge public health costs, besides causing > 450,000 deaths. It has led to an estimated 575 million cases > of diarrhoea, and 350,000 deaths from diarrhoea alone, in > the under-five age group. > It is the poorest who bear the greatest cost due to > inadequate sanitation. > > The poorest fifth of the urban population bears the highest > per capita economic impact of Rs 1,699, much more than the > national average per capita loss due to inadequate > sanitation, which is Rs 961. Among rural households too, the > poorest fifth bears the highest per capita loss in the rural > area at over Rs 1,000. > > '' And these are hugely underestimated estimates because we > have excluded mortality impacts,'' Costain says. The report > admitted that many economic impacts like other diseases > influenced by hygiene and sanitation and the impacts on > pregnant women, low birthweight and long-term health had not > been covered. > > Health impacts, accounting for the bulk of the economic > impacts, are followed by the economic losses due to the time > spent in obtaining piped water and sanitation facilities , > about $15 billion, and about $0.26 billion of potential > tourism revenue lost due to India's reputation for poor > sanitation, the report says. > ~Avelino > >
