WASH and HIV/AIDS Go Hand in Hand

This blog is re-posted with permission from the Elizabeth Glasier Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

This week is World Water Week (September 1-6, 2013), and to mark the occasion, our colleagues at WASH Advocates shared why proper water and sanitation is crucial to the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

“We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any of the other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.” – Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations

Since AIDS first was discovered in 1981, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 34 million people are living with HIV/AIDS today. It disproportionately affects the poor and those in regions where living conditions are overcrowded, unsanitary, and lack access to water, medical care, and proper nutrition.

Kofi Annan was right about the connection between AIDS and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). When communities do not have adequate water or sanitation, diarrheal episodes increase, and the health of the entire community is affected. What’s more, people living with HIV/AIDS are more vulnerable to infection due to their suppressed immune systems, and are disproportionately affected by lack of access to WASH. In fact, people living with HIV/AIDS are at greater risk for developing diarrheal disease, have it more frequently, have more severe episodes, and are more likely to die from it.

Several billion dollars are spent each year to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and a portion of that money is used to provide antiretroviral medication (ARVs) to HIV-positive patients to help them live long and productive lives. However, persistent diarrhea greatly reduces the efficacy of this therapy by preventing absorption of both the ARV medication and other essential nutrients. Diarrhea in people living with HIV literally flushes aid money down the toilet – that is, if they have a toilet.

Actually, a toilet could be the solution – along with safe drinking water and hygiene education. Research shows that access to WASH significantly reduces diarrheal episodes among people living with HIV/AIDS, enhancing their quality of life and allowing their ARV medications to work effectively. Furthermore, access to WASH decreases the burden on caregivers, with a labor-saving impact that allow more time for other activities, including school and income generation.

Ensuring access to WASH for people living with HIV/AIDS also makes HIV/AIDS funding and medication more efficient and effective. By integrating WASH and HIV/AIDS efforts we can improve the lives of millions around the world

World Water Week and Women

This blog is re-posted from Girls' Globe with permission.

2013 is the International Year of Water Cooperation, and during World Water Week is a perfect time to examine what water means to women around the world. Leaders in the water sector will gather in Stockholm this week, to share successes, discuss challenges, and discuss the future of water programs. We can only hope that the participants keep in mind the population most affected by water – women.

Improved access to clean water, for most, brings to mind good health and reduction of disease, but it means so much more. In the minds of those receiving a new water supply, time-saving and other social benefits are of greater importance. Women are the primary collectors of water in the developing world, spending on average six hours each day collecting water for their households, including carrying up to 40 pounds of water on their heads or backs. Women are also the primary caregiver in most households, and must spend time caring for family members and children who may get sick from contaminated water. Can you imagine a world in which women didn’t have to spend that amount of time everyday collecting water, or if they had more time because their family didn’t get sick from the water so often?

Clean water close by means time to women; it means opportunity; it means autonomy.

Often, adolescent girls must join in the effort of collecting water for their families when they are old enough. In many places, this also means missing school or dropping out altogether, due to the amount of time water collection takes. Not only does clean water mean opportunity and autonomy, it also means education for girls. A World Bank study found that a 15 minute reduction in water collection time increased girls’ school attendance by eight to twelve percent, and the provision of clean water at schools provides an incentive for girls to attend. WaterAid reports that more years of education for girls means more healthier and better educated families, and a way out of poverty.

What would our world look like if the simple act of having clean water nearby was realized?

More women would be educated, employed, leaders in their communities, and millions would be on their way out of poverty.

Watch this video from water.org, in which Jodie Foster explains that for women, water is personal.

To learn more, visit:

• Girls’ Globe Blogger Sally Pope’s blog: Women & Water
• Charity:Water’s September Campaign
• World Water Week & The Clean Water Crisis (wateronline.com)
• I wash my butt with your misfortune: On the privilege of “water”(embracetheindoguity.wordpress.com)
• Water.org
• WaterAid
• UNICEF
• WASH Advocates