Improving health in the Arctic region through safe and affordable access to household running water and sewer services: an Arctic Council initiative

Abstract

Important health disparities have been documented among the peoples of the Arctic and subarctic, including those related to limited access to in-home improved drinking water and sanitation services. Although improving water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) has been a focus of the United Nations for decades, the Arctic region has received little attention in this regard. A growing body of evidence highlights inequalities across the region for the availability of in-home drinking WASH services and for health indicators associated with these services. In this review, we highlight relevant data and describe an initiative through the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group to characterize the extent of WASH services in Arctic nations, the related health indicators and climate-related vulnerabilities to WASH services. With this as a baseline, efforts to build collaborations across the Arctic will be undertaken to promote innovations that can extend the benefits of water and sanitation services to all residents.

Results of an Arctic Council survey on water and sanitation services in the Arctic

“…Access to an adequate quantity of running water is associated with better health [3,15–20]. This survey indicates that although waterborne diseases are reported to public health authorities in most places throughout the Arctic, few water-washed diseases are.…”

“…In the Arctic region, inadequate water and sanitation services are associated with poorer health status, and this burden is higher among rural and indigenous populations [3]. While access to safe water prevents waterborne infections which mainly cause gastrointestinal illness, access to adequate quantity of water for hand, face, and body washing prevents water-washed infections that are spread from person to person, such as respiratory tract infections and skin infections.…”

Water, sanitation, pollution, and health in the Arctic

“…In Greenland, a high incidence of respiratory infections is also documented (Koch et al 2002), while no studies have been made so far to reveal relations between this observation and the status of water and sanitation systems in this part of the Arctic region. The health threats impose costs that impede socioeconomic development (Hennessy and Bressler 2016).…”

“…dtu.dk/english/about_artek/aic-artek-internationalconferences/artek_event2016, and BWater Innovations for Healthy Arctic Homes^, held in Anchorage, Alaska 18th-20th of September 2016 http://dec.alaska.gov/water/waterinnovations-for-healthy-arctic-homes/. Both conferences were part of the Arctic water, sewer and health (WASH) initiative of the Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group, which aims to characterize the extent of WASH services in Arctic nations, the related health indicators and climate-related vulnerabilities to WASH services (Hennessy and Bressler 2016). The initiative included an assessment of the current status of water and sanitation services in the Arctic and the two scientific meetings focused on addressing the region's unique sanitation issues.…”

Public Health Practice Report: water supply and sanitation in Chukotka and Yakutia, Russian Arctic

“…In addition, climate and environmental change is threatening existing water/sanitation systems by affecting water availability, making water and sewer treatment more complicated and disrupting distribution of water and sewage, particularly in areas with extensive permafrost thawing, flooding or erosion problems. This is more than a problem of inconvenience, inadequate access to WASH is known to have negative impacts on health in Arctic populations [2]. …”