Written by Jiana Macchor
The Syrian Civil War, beginning in March 2011 as a response to schoolchildren’s involvement in the Arab Spring, has progressed for seven years and killed over 500,000 Syrian citizens. The recent atrocities of the Syrian Civil War have allowed many issues involved with refugee populations to resurface, including those of foreign involvement, religious extremism and persecution, and arms involvement by different administrations. However, one of the most prominent and least discussed issues of the refugee crisis is the lack of clean water, and the resulting rate of transmission of waterborne illnesses.
While varying refugee crises in different time periods and locations around the world have been faced with different waterborne illnesses, the viruses that have been transmitted among the majority of refugee populations include the Hepatitis A virus and norovirus, along with conditions such as salmonella [1]. The limited supply of medical resources, paired with the unhealthily cramped living conditions of refugee camps, leaves refugee populations with no means of accessing the vaccine necessary to prevent the onset of Hepatitis A, or the sanitary conditions required for the body to rid itself of Hepatitis A after it has been acquired [2]. Likewise, refugees have incredibly limited access to the immense amount of liquids that must be consumed to replace the fluids lost to diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms of the norovirus [3]. Finally, refugee camps lack access to the antibiotics required to treat salmonella [4]. By contaminating the already limited water sources through excretion into the water and lack of filtration, the spread of these ailments is amplified, quickly affects the entire group of refugees in a single area [5].
Waterborne diseases are attributable as the single greatest cause of death and diseases around the world, killing 3.4 million people annually, and are more severe among refugee populations [6]. This highlights the painful duality that exists between the fact that refugee populations are at an immensely higher risk of contracting these ailments due to their crowded and unclean living environments, in addition to limitations in access to water purification, basic sanitation, and medical illness management [7]. There have been a number of joint political and scientific efforts attempting to reduce the severity of these illnesses among refugee populations. One of the most prominent is LifeStraw, which reported a statistically significant decline in the number of reported diarrhoeal cases at the local hospital in a specific refugee camp. However, the problems of nationalization, generalizability, and affordability of water purification devices are some of the greatest factors standing in the way of solving this humanitarian crisis [8].
As highlighted through the Syrian Civil War, the displaced members of refugee populations already face the loss of their homes, careers, and relationships as casualties of the physical war. These same refugees then lose the lives of their loved ones as a result of debilitating, lethal waterborne illnesses. While the havoc that these maladies impose is first localized on to only the refugee populations, it soon endangers the rest of society that surrounds these populations. Whether it be by impacting new cities through the refugees’ relocation, or the suffering of a population at the hands of unsanitary living conditions, the problem of waterborne illness is one that eventually impacts the entirety of society.
References:
[1] “Interventions to prevent food- and waterborne diseases.” World Health Organization/Europe, World Health Organization.
[2] “Norovirus Laboratory Diagnosis and Treatment.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 24/7, 24 July 2012.
[3] “Hepatitis A Information.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC 24/7, 29 Sept. 2017.
[4] “Salmonella Diagnosis and Treatment.” Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, CDC 24/7, 9 Mar. 2015.
[5] Borts, I.H. 1949. Water-Borne Diseases. American Journal of Public Health. 39: 975-978.
[6] Berman, Jessica. “WHO: Waterborne Disease is World’s Leading Killer.” VOA News, Voice of America, 29. Oct. 2009.
[7] Cronin, A.A., Shrestha, D., Coriner N., Abdalla, F., Ezard, N., Aramburu, C. 2008. A review of water and sanitation provision in refugee camps in association with selected health and nutrition indicators – the need for integrated service provision. Journal of Water and Health. 6.1: 1-12.
[8] Eisanousi, S., Abdelrahman, S., Eishiek, I., Elhadi, M., Mohamadani, A., Habour, A., ElAmin, S., Elnoury, A., Ahmed, E., Hunter, P. 2009. A study of the use and impacts of LifeStraw in a settlement camp in southern Gezira, Sudan. Journal of Water and Health. 7.3: Abstract.
Demena, M., Workie, A., Tadesse E., Mohammed S., Gebru T. 2003. Water Borne Disease. 1: 1-73.