The WASH programme in association with Coca-Cola

The long-term health of a society depends largely on improved sanitation, hygiene practices and usage of safe drinking water. Everyone must understand the importance of clean and safe water in everyday use. Plenty of people in our country do not have access to adequate sanitation and safe drinking water. 

There are several rural places in our country where sanitation is a huge problem. The people of these places do not have access to toilets in their house and therefore they have to go to the fields. Such practices are extremely unhygienic, which exposes them to various diseases which can be life threatening.

Even in the slums of urban cities, people don’t have access to clean toilets in their houses and many communities drink unsafe water. As a result, these people are left vulnerable to diseases such as diarrhea. 

Proper sanitation is extremely important for maintaining the health of society as a whole, both in rural and urban places. Poor hygiene practices, inadequate sanitation and lack of access to safe drinking water can result in waterborne illnesses such as diarrhea and pneumonia. Vector borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are also common in such scenarios. 

It is seen that a lot of children get afflicted with these diseases every year and the death rate is also very high in children due to improper sanitation and poor hygiene.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) University and the U.S agency for International Development (USAID) have launched the wonderful initiative “Strengthening Water and Sanitation in Urban Settings” recently in Kolkata, in association with Coca-Cola. This initiative is also known as the WASH program as it focuses on the words Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Not only Kolkata, this initiative is also launched in several other cities of India.

The objective of this initiative is to reach 50,000 beneficiaries in low-income settlements such as the slums of Kolkata. The motto of the WASH program is mainly to reach 300 professionals through WASH governance studies and near about 2500 students through 20 municipal schools across the country.

This unique association promises to lead to the healthy development of low income settlements of Kolkata. The WASH program aims at strengthening water and sanitation in urban settings so that the overall health of the people of the city is improved. Once the program is implemented in full force, development will surely follow.

The future of a country depends on the health of its people. The WASH program promises to be the ray of hope, leading to the healthy development of the country.