March 22th – World Water Day
Children fill their containers with water from a community pump on the dry Tihama plain near Hodeidah, Yemen. 01/01/1985. Source: UN Website
It is largely accepted that economic development and good health depend on access to clean water and sanitation. With this principle in mind, in the 1980s, the UN implemented two large projects to guarantee sanitation and clean water for the population.
The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (IDWSSD), from 1981 to 1990, and the Blue Nile Health Project (BNHP) aimed for nothing less than the total overhaul of the way water was developed. The IDWSSD was designed to give more than two billion people access to clean drinking water and sanitation.
The article Water and the death of ambition in global health, c.1970-1990, by Christian McMillen, Professor of the Department of History at the University of Virginia examines both programs. The article is part of our special issue The meaning(s) of global public health history (HCSM vol.27 supl.1 Sept. 2020).
Read about water and sanitation in HCSM:
McMillen, Christian. Water and the death of ambition in global health, c.1970-1990. Hist. cienc. saude-Manguinhos, Sept 2020, vol.27, suppl.1, p.211-230. ISSN 0104-5970
The sanitation issue in the public health field Inadequate sanitation-related diseases affect vulnerable populations all over the world. This study argues thatthat sanitation remains virtually invisible in the Brazilian health sector agenda.
The Sanitation of Brazil: Nation, State, and Public Health, 1889-1930 The acclaimed study of Gilberto Hochman is available for the first time in English.
Basic sanitation in Brazil The basic idea of this study is that public sanitation policies are strongly influenced by actors, interests, and institutions
In deep water To celebrate the World Water Day, we selected articles about seas, oceans and rivers as subjects of history.
Water and Jobs The Report illustrates that nearly 3 out of 4 jobs of the global workforce (3.2 billion people) are moderately or highly dependent upon access to water.
Scientists discuss causes and solutions for Brazil’s water shortage They criticized Brazilian authorities for inaction towards the water crisis and for lack of transparency. They also warned of the risk of social unrest.
