Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE WaterAid Tanzania has implored the government, donors, civil societies, business communities, and media outlets to prioritize investments in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
“The three are fundamentally necessary for the economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic,” WaterAid Tanzania indicated in its statement, stressing that WASH should be at the heart of future pandemic preparedness plans.
The statement released ahead of the Global Handwashing Day (GHD), observed worldwide on October 15, confirms that investments in basic services pertaining to universal WASH are capable of unlocking trillions of dollars in a couple of decades. Handwashing with soap is an important part of preventing outbreaks of infectious diseases and pandemics, keeping food safe, helping children to grow strong, and protecting health care workers.
Safely managed WASH basic services can provide up to 21 times more value than expenditure, said WaterAid Tanzania, citing the example of a long-term investment in infrastructure globally that could yield net benefits of between 37 billion US dollars and 86 billion US dollars per year.
Investing in WASH infrastructure will avoid up to six billion cases of diarrhea and 12 billion others of helminths between 2021 and 2040, with significant implications for child health and nutrition.
Flooding being the most prevalent climate change-related threat to global WASH infrastructure, every dollar spent on strategic flood resilience upgrades will avoid at least $62 in flood restoration costs.
The WaterAid Critical Mission Benefit-Cost Ration (BCR) analysis shows investments in WASH could be an effective means of achieving transformative economic growth with immediate benefits outweighing investment costs. With many economies facing high unemployment as a result of the Covid-19, WASH investments can, over the short term be an effective form of stimulus spending, rapidly deployed, and targeted towards job creation.
Over the long-term, WASH can support healthier, more educated, more productive, and resilient workforces, crowding in further private investment and sustaining more rapid and equitable economic growth.
WaterAid Tanzania attributes 10 percent of the global disease burden to inadequate access to WASH, contributing to 1.6 million preventable deaths each year, including 60 percent of all diarrhoeal deaths.
WASH infrastructure service, warns the WaterAid Tanzania, will be disrupted as a result of climate change in the most vulnerable countries housing 13 percent of the global population during the forthcoming two decades.
Lack of basic WASH will require a household to spend between one and two hours a day fetching water to the expense of employment or education time.
The opportunity cost will mostly weigh down on women as well as on female empowerment and gender equality endeavors.
The Global Handwashing Day is dedicated to increasing awareness about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases, outbreaks and to save lives.
Themed Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together in 2021, the day offers an open opportunity for influencing government and for designing, implementing, financing, and replicating creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times at scale.
