Post Graduate Diploma in Water Hygiene and Sanitation

It is estimated that over 1.2 billion people globally lack access to safe clean drinking water and a further 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate and comfortable sanitation. WHO (2005), estimates that 1.6 million die yearly from diarrhea and cholera which have been attributed to inaccessibility to clean drinking water as well as basic sanitation services. 90 of the figure is from children who are below five years and the trend is rampant in developing countries.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) are some of the basic needs for human health to lead a normal life. WASH is a practical way of leading people from poverty since every person will be productive and money used to treat the diseases associated with dwindling levels of sanitation and clean water can be used in developing the economy.

After decades of investments, an estimated of the words population especially those in third world countries remain with unreliable and unsafe water. Access to safe water is essential for the health, security, livelihood and quality of life and is especially critical to women and girls as they are the most affected and at the same time they are the ones to be burdened with the issues of collecting water.

Access to safe human waste disposal methods is crucial for the health and well-being of a community. Lack of the same leads to higher costs of living to the community through pollution of rivers, ground water and higher incidence of air and water borne diseases.

By the end of the course, the learner should have garnered knowledge on:

– The links between water, sanitation and Public Health

– The nature of, and the threats posed by, environmental diseases

– Effective hygiene promotion in a crisis context

– The complexity of delivering safe water and sanitation in an emergency

– The standard equipment used in the field for emergency WASH response