The Impact of Water, Sanitation And Hygiene (WASH) On Nutrition

Drinking unclean water, following poor personal hygiene, and using inadequate sanitation facilities can increase the risk of illnesses such as diarrhoea. Those who are malnourished are more vulnerable to diarrhoea and each diarrhoea episode can worsen malnutrition. This creates a vicious cycle. Diarrhoea is a leading cause of malnutrition in children under five years old. Therefore, safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are essential for being healthy and well-nourished. According to WHO, Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297,000 children aged under 5 years each year globally.

The causes of poor water, sanitation and hygiene are two-fold: lack of access to adequate infrastructure and lack of behaviour change to adopt the use of proper infrastructure and practices.

As a part of National Nutrition Month or Poshan Maah in India, this dialogue will convene experts from various fields to discuss the following issues:

• The link between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and nutrition
• How we can improve the access to amenities for safe drinking water, proper sanitation and hygiene
• How we can change behaviours related to water, sanitation and hygiene
• Challenges that still need to be addressed on this topic

Moderator: Niranjan Kanjolia, Rajasthan Patrika

Panellists:

1. Dr. B Sesikeran, former director, ICMR- National Institute of Nutrition
2. Swapnil Chaturvedi, Chief Operating Officer, Intelehealth
3. Dr. Himani Tiwari, Coordinator CMAR, DLB, Government of Rajasthan
4. Capt. Dr. Amit Sharma, Ayurveda specialist
5. Archana Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, Nourishing Schools Foundation