A deadly killer has silently taken position as the undisputed champion of all time. (Not 'undisputed' in the boxing championship sense, either. I've seen boxing before and there was definitely some sort of dispute that preceded the award of that belt.) This was a silent coup of the grim reaper throne that can only grow more deadly with time. It already takes a greater human toll than war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction combined. The king of all killers on Earth? Poop, of course.
According to the World Health Organization, diarrhea is the number 1 killer in the world. They also estimate that 80 percent of all illness in the world is attributable to unclean water. Every year more than 3.4 million people die as a result of water related diseases. Most of the victims are young children, the vast majority of whom die of illnesses caused by organisms that thrive in water sources contaminated by raw sewage. According to an assessment commissioned by the United Nations, about 3,900 children die every day because they drank filthy water. The report also concludes that 40% of the world, particularly those in Africa and Asia, do not have access to clean drinking water. About 10,000 people die from bad water or no water every day - that is about seven per minute.
How can this happen? How can the most evolved species on the planet be dying off at catastrophic rates from eating their own poop? Part of the reason is poverty. About 40% of the people in the world have no bathroom facilities. That means that 2.6 billion people think of a toilet as a luxury item, if they even know what one is. Without toilets, people are forced to use bare ground, or stand in line to use an open public latrine. People can also contract diarrhea by eating food that's prepared by sick individuals who have not washed their hands, or touching something handled by an infected person and then putting their own hands into their mouths or touching their food. Perhaps another part of the reason for this is that, as a more evolved species, we rely little on instinct and more on cultural taboos to dictate our behavior. In Western Civilization, that would be the Bible. If you look to Leviticus, the recognized Biblical standard for what you should and shouldn't eat, it doesn't even mention pooping in the well. Leviticus is part of the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible. That's where we are told that it is really rude to cook a baby goat in the milk of its own mother. We took that to mean that dairy and meats can't even be prepared in the same kitchen. A cheeseburger is a sin because we didn't want to be rude to our food. Why is a heathen like me studying the Bible? Looking for loopholes, baby! It took us a couple of thousand more years to get to the eating yellow snow thing; largely because the Bible was written in a desert. At least we finally had Frank Zappa clear that up for us.
All of the water that's ever been on Earth is still here because there is really nowhere for it to go, but it isn't all available by any means. If all the water on Earth could fit into a 5 gallon office water cooler, all but about 1 pint would be salt water - undrinkable. The amount of that pint glass that is available to people through rivers, lakes and streams and not polluted or locked under ground would be less than one fourth of a teaspoon. And less of that is available every day as we turn more water into polluted water.
Analysts say that eliminating disease and death due to unclean water and poor sanitation practices would result in billions of dollars in health and productivity gains. They estimate that for every dollar spent, there would be an economic return of between $3 and $34, depending upon the country. That's an awfully good ROI; even at a meager 3 to 1. Another interesting death economy statistic is that most people that die from diarrhea ultimately succumb to dehydration, and most of the diseases are self limiting and short term. We could save millions of lives every year with about $1 worth of electrolyte replacement drink for each life saved. Compare that to just one telethon: Jerry Lewis, apparently doing penance for building a career on making fun of the handicapped, raised $64 million last year for MD (about 1/3 of MDA's $186 million last year), and has raised $1.46 billion in 41 years of telethons. The number of survivors to date? Zero. There are plenty of other charity machines, like Sally "you gonna finish that sandwich?" Struthers and her Save the Children campaign, that generated $350 million last year, but frankly, I feel a little uneasy about trusting her with food intended for others.
Cheers,
Bob Peeples, PE