The report “Born without water” from WaterAid shows pregnant women sleeping on unwashed floors and newborn babies being washed with water from dirty streams. The result is that bacteria are spread in hospitals and lead to serious infections and sepsis, which is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in the world. According to the report, this causes half a million preventable deaths a year.
A total of 16 countries in Africa and Asia are included in the report. According to statistics, over 15 million births take place each year in healthcare facilities that lack basic hygienic conditions.
10 kronor
One of the countries reviewed is Liberia. One of the women interviewed for the report testified that her newborn child was washed with water from a stream.
“The water they used came from the stream. I remember how they dipped the towel in the barrel and washed me while I was giving birth. Then they dried my baby with the same water,” she says.
According to the report's calculation models, 10 kronor per person per year in low- and middle-income countries would be enough to more than halve the death rate. This involves investments in infrastructure projects, among other things.
The big problem is usually not that there is a shortage of water, but that access is not ensured. The technology exists, the solutions are simple and often cheap, but they are not prioritized, even though the cost of treating sepsis and other infections is significantly higher than preventing them, says Anna Nilsdotter.
Climate change is worsening
Climate change is adding to the problems because one consequence is often floods or droughts, which lead to even greater problems with clean water.
According to Anna Nilsdotter, aid from countries like Sweden is important for improving the situation in many countries.
But the Swedish government has instead cut aid sharply, which is the opposite of what is needed, she says.
Facts: Born without water
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The report “Born without water” has collected data and voices from 16 African and Asian countries. It shows that mothers in sub-Saharan Africa are almost 150 times more likely to die from sepsis than if they gave birth in Western Europe or North America.
76 percent of all births take place in unsafe hospital environments in the ten African countries analyzed in the report.
According to WHO, over 1 million women and newborns die from preventable infections linked to unsafe childbirth every year.
WaterAid is an international non-profit organization founded in the United Kingdom in 1981. It works to ensure that people, no matter where they live, have access to clean water, safe toilets and good hygiene.
Source: WaterAid
