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Drinking-Water Access and Health in Refugee Camps

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Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation

Abstract

Drinking-water deprivation in terms of access, quantity, and quality poses serious health hazards both in the short and long term. This is especially critical in refugee chronic situations that last for decades, such as the Saharawi refugee camps (>40 years). Water access and water quantity improves health, as water is not only needed for direct consumption or cooking but also for hygiene, directly related to health. On the other hand, water quality avoids not only gastrointestinal diseases in the short term, but also other health issues that appear under a long-term exposure. This chapter reviews the history of drinking water and health at the Saharawi refugee camps, showing how water access has improved over the years but still does not guarantee the minimum quantity of 20 l/person/day established by the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees (UNHCR). It also shows how water treatment using chlorination has reduced dramatically the diseases associated to microbiological contamination, and how the poor raw water quality that a percentage of the population is still consuming has produced long-term health effects, such as the prevalence of fluorosis and goiter.

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Abbreviations

NGO:

Nongovernmental organization

SPHERE:

Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response

UNHCR:

United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees

UNRWA:

United Nations Relief and Works Agency

WFP:

World Food Programme

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Technologies Research Group/Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cádiz, Avenida de la Universidad 10, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain

    Marta Vivar

  2. Water and Energy Research Group, IMDEA Water, Avenida Punto Com 2, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain

    Natalia Pichel

  3. IDEA Research Group/Department of Electronics and Automation, Universidad de Jaén, Campus las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, Spain

    Manuel Fuentes

Authors
  1. Marta Vivar
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  2. Natalia Pichel
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  3. Manuel Fuentes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Vivar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes & Nutritional Sci Div Sch, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor Preedy

  2. Clinical Biochemistry, University of Westminster, Westminster, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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Vivar, M., Pichel, N., Fuentes, M. (2017). Drinking-Water Access and Health in Refugee Camps. In: Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_26-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40007-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40007-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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