SHOULD DRINKING-WATER COME WITH A HEALTH WARNING?
22 MARCH: WORLD DAY FOR WATER
20 March 1997
Many of us take it for granted that drinking water is good for us, yet some 110
million Europeans still do not have access to safe drinking-water. Several UN/ECE
member countries have recently reported outbreaks of diseases that were thought
to have been eradicated in Europe -- all for lack of a safe water-supply. For
instance, Ukraine has reported outbreaks of cholera. In Azerbaijan cases of
malaria, also a water-related disease, were reported throughout the country. Leaky
drinking-water supply systems were the cause of hepatitis A in Estonia and some
other countries. In Lithuania, the capital's residents are supplied with drinking-water that is disinfected, but not further processed. As a result, its concentrations
of iron and manganese are too high. Environmental and health services all over
Europe are also concerned about the presence of persistent organic pollutants
(POPs), viruses and bacteria in inland waters. "The ECE Convention on the
Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes now
provides us with a tool to monitor and assess Europe's water resources" says
Kaj Bärlund, Director of the Environment Division of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UN/ECE).
Why is this problem surfacing now?
Most east European countries used to impose a ban on human morbidity and
mortality data. It was consequently difficult to prove the adverse effect of poor
environmental conditions on human health. Such restrictions on data were lifted
a few years ago so now the links between the environment and people's health
is becoming clearer. These countries usually also lacked the institutional and
methodological framework for assessing environmental risks to public health, yet
such a framework is a precondition for setting priorities for action at national,
regional and local levels.
What steps are Governments taking to counter this problem?
The Russian Federation, with the help of international donor organizations,
is carrying out a project on environmental management to create the legal,
institutional and methodological basis for a plan of action to improve
drinking-water quality, for example. The current problems in the Buryatiya,
Dagestan, Kalmykiya regions, near the Black Sea, and in Archangelsk, Kaliningrad,
Kemerovsk, Kurgansk, Tomsk, Yaroslavel, and several other parts of the Russian
Federation will soon be tackled. The Russian Federation also hopes to improve the
quality of surface waters, from which some 70% of the drinking-water supply is
drawn. These waters are often highly polluted by waste-water discharges which
do not meet hygienic standards. The water-supply system will also need to be
upgraded, as leakages from the system have polluted the drinking-water even
further with bacteriological components.
What is the role of ECE?
At the international level, the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe will take action jointly with the World Health Organization's Office for
Europe, UNEP and the European Union. ECE and its member States are focusing
their activities on the protection of water resources against pollution. At the 1995
Sofia Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" they already decided to cut
pollution with harmful substances. One particular concern is the discharge of
persistent organic pollutants, such as aldrin, dieldrin, polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). High concentrations of
these substances have long been associated with a number of carcinogenic and
other health effects. But much more subtle effects can also occur at
environmental concentrations which may be a result of waste-water discharges or
runoff from agriculture.
Action has already been taken under the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution to draw up a protocol on persistent organic pollutants.
Emissions from industry and runoff from agriculture still have to be dealt with.
This is where the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes comes in.
What are the milestones up to 2000?
Two Conferences, the 1998 Aarhus Ministerial Conference "Environment for
Europe" and the 1999 London Ministerial Conference "Environment and Health",
will examine progress made to protect waters and agree on further joint action. It
is against this background that both the ECE and the WHO secretariats were
requested by member countries to help them prepare an international instrument
to prevent, control and reduce water-related diseases in Europe. It will combine
international efforts to protect water resources, guarantee safe drinking-water,
help countries in transition to develop human resources and set up the necessary
infrastructure, and it will help to channel international assistance to resolve the
most pressing problems and protect water resources and water-supply. On the
occasion of the 1997 World Day for Water, water and health experts from all over
Europe will meet in Kiev to lay the ground for pan-European cooperation to
eradicate water-related diseases.