CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH Access to healthy water is important to health and sanitation. There are many disease caused by unsafe water. Unsafe water really affects children because they are not strong enough to fight these diseases. Access to healthy water is important to survival, growth, and development. I am very concerned about access to healthy water because our church helps to support children’s home and school in India. It took them a long time to get clean running water to the school and children’s home. All the children at the home are orphans. We have close contact with the children and very concerned about their health. The children were so amazed and happy to have clean running water. Most of them were use to walking for miles in order to get any kind of water. The majority of the water that they walked to collect was unsafe and unclean. Adequate, well-maintained water supply and sanitation facilities in schools encourage children to attend school regularly and help them achieve their educational goals. Inadequate water supply and sanitation in schools are health hazards and affect school attendance, retention and educational performance. • 88 per cent of the population of 1.2 billion has access to drinking water from improved sources in 2008, as compared to 68 per cent in 1990. • Only a quarter the total population in India has drinking water on their premise. • Women, who have to collect the drinking water, are vulnerable to a number of unsafe practices. Only 13 per cent of adult males collect water. • Sixty seven per cent of Indian households do not treat their drinking water, even though it could be chemically or bacterially contaminated. Chemical contamination in water ensuring water quality at the source is crucial. In India, there is a widespread natural occurrence of arsenic and fluoride in the groundwater. UNICEF is supporting Government of India programs on arsenic and fluoride mitigation and identifying water quality testing technologies which are appropriate for use in field situations. All emergencies cause disruption to basic services. People are less likely to be able to drink safe water, use basic sanitation facilities and maintain improved hygiene practices. Children, especially those under the age of five, are particularly vulnerable to the diseases which can result during emergencies. These diseases include diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, respiratory infections, skin and eye infections which are all likely to occur when water supplies and sanitation services are disrupted. UNICEF has set out minimum standards of response for any emergency situation. These describe the life saving actions which UNICEF will take within the first six to eight weeks of an emergency, along with the longer term role in the subsequent weeks and months. This information may impact my future because I know the importance of having access to healthy water. I can also be an advocate for any children in my classroom that may not have access to healthy water. My job would be to inform them of any resources that may be available to help them have access to healthy water. Water, Environment, Santitation http://www.unicef.org/india/wes.html