Water sanitation and hygiene in the schools of rural field practice area of Shri B. M. Patil Medical College, Vijayapur.

Abstract

One of the world’s most urgent issues is lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Water-related improvements are crucial to meet the development goals, reduce child mortality, and improve health in a sustainable way. The absence of WASH in schools is responsible for 20% of total deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) in children. Over 440 million schools days are missed annually due to water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases. Though there are emerging vaccines for rotavirus and cholera still WASH remains critical in the prevention of diarrheal diseases, soil transmitted helminthes infections and acute respiratory diseases. Objective of the study was to study the implementation and functionality of WASH in schools.