New Study Connects Safe Drinking Water Supplies and Childrens' Health
According to a new report in Environmental Health:
Researchers have quantified globally that increasing access to safe water and adequate sanitation lowers infant, child, and maternal death rates, according to an article published online January 27 in Environmental Health.
June J. Cheng, MD, from the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency Program, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, and the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, both in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues analyzed data from 193 countries and divided the information into 4 tiers of access to water and sanitation.
After adjustment for potential confounders including gross national income, fertility per woman, maternal mortality ratio (MMR), and region in the world, the researchers estimated that in 2008, as access to water improved for each tier, 1.17 fewer deaths per 1000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08 - 1.26 deaths; P < .001) occurred in children younger than 5 years and 1.14 fewer infant deaths per 1000 occurred (95% CI, 1.05 - 1.23 deaths; P = .001) from the bottom to top tier. For each tier, as access to sanitation improved, 1.66 fewer deaths per 1000 (95% CI, 1.11 - 1.32 deaths; P < .001) occurred in children younger than 5 years, including infants.
