Public Health Dimensions of Water Insecurity

Water insecurity poses challenges to many sectors such as energy, housing, agriculture, and health. Similarly, public health addresses the biological, social, and psychological determinants of health at the population level and consequently must attend to issues in the same multiple sectors. This chapter examines the relationship between water insecurity and public health. It is argued that, in their primary roles of disease prevention/protection, mitigation, adaptation and health promotion, public health providers must lead initiatives to improve quality and ensure adequate quantities of water in order to sustain livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development. Reciprocally, public health should be included in the development of public policies and community planning for water resources. Ten intersecting areas of water and public health concern are discussed: acute infection; chronic infection; food safety and security; malnutrition; maternal and newborn health; environmental integrity; disaster management; population growth; population safety; and, health information dissemination. Researchers in both development and public health need to increase their attention to identifying and evaluating the impacts of water as a hazard and of risk management strategies that can prevent, ameliorate, or mitigate water insecurities. Water security analysts need to include public health considerations in their analysis of security risks. Finally, the chapter provides examples of the intersection of water insecurity and public health from both industrial and developing parts of the world.