Safe Drinking Water Campaign Launched in Nepal

Nepali Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, UN-HABITAT and the Coca Cola company has launched a public-private partnership campaign Partnership for Safe Water in Nepal, The Himalayan Times reported on Monday.

According to the daily, the campaign aims at spreading awareness on simple household water treatment options including chlorination, filtration, boiling and solar water disinfection in urban and peri-urban communities to improve access to safe water and reduce diarrhea diseases.

"Last year, when there was an outbreak of cholera in Kathmandu, we were able to control it within a month by working with the government and local non-governmental organizations to raise awareness on safe water and household water treatment," said DR Roshan Raj Shrestha, chief technical advisor of UN-HABITAT (Water for Asian Cities Program in Nepal) said while launching the ceremony on Sunday.

According to Shrestha, every year about 13,000 children under five years of age die because of water-borne diseases caused by contaminated drinking water, poor hygiene and sanitation in the country.

"Studies have shown that these diarrhea diseases can be reduced by 39 percent by simply increasing access to safe drinking water," he said.

2008-03-17

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