title: The essential role of drinking water and sanitation in primary health care.
abstract: The purpose of the paper is to draw attention to the fact that drinking water supply and the provision of sanitation facilities form an indispensable element in disease prevention and primary health care programmes. The world situation regarding the availability of drinking water and sanitation facilities is dramatic, in that more than 1500 million people lact proper facilities; the implications in terms of health and cost are stupendous. It is therefore a fortunate development that the International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990) is on its way to an appealing initiative. The paper discusses water and sanitation related diseases, and the established experience that water and sanitation programmes can only have a health impact if they are jointly developed, and if they are integrated with health education. Operational implications of such programmes as an element of primary health care are reviewed.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000635:transmission; D011634:Public Health; D012499:Sanitation; D014881:Water Supply