Rev. Fac. Med. 2018 vol. 66 No.

Water pollution in low and middle resources countries: a

global health public problema.

Oscar Gómez-Duarte

Water is an essential element for the life of all beings living on the planet, it is also a
fundamental human right (1) 97.2% of the water on planet Earth is saline and only 2.5%
corresponds to fresh water; of that 2.5%, 30% is underground, 68% is in glaciers and other
snow layers and only 1.2% is shallow and It is found in rivers, lakes and other forms of
surface water (2). Drinking water is threatened by continuous pollution that generates
human activity and the decrease of resources water as a result of global warming (3).
According to World Health Organization, since 2015 only 89% of the world's population
has access to water suitable for consumption and anticipates that this percentage will
continue to decrease (4), although estimates that the situation is already critical for 260
million people lacking water suitable for consumption (5). The high contamination of fresh
water translates into problems of public health that affects not only human and animal
populations,

but also the natural environment in general. The high rates of Infant morbidity and mortality
due to acute diarrheal disease is a clear example of the results of water pollution. It is
estimated that 1.8 billion people in the world consume contaminated wáter with stool (6);
in Colombia it is estimated that 64% of the population is at risk of consuming contaminated
water and that most affected regions belong to the rural area, especially the Pacific and the
Amazon (7). The continuous consumption of water contaminated by the Child population
not only translates into recurrent diarrhea, but It also manifests itself in acute malnutrition,
chronic malnutrition and alterations in psychomotor development (8). Fresh water
contaminants include, on the one hand, bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic microorganisms
and, by other, simple or complex chemicals. Within substances chemicals that may cause
more risk to the health of the population are heavy metals, radioactive substances,
insecticides, fertilizers, petroleum products, industrial toxic waste, Soaps, licit and illegal
drugs, among others.
Pollutants from rivers, lakes and other natural resources they have their main origin in
anthropogenic activities and the soil vulnerability for small and large urban areas; however,
rural areas do not escape human activity pollutant, because sewage contains human
excreta and animals, chemical and industrial waste from private companies or state, mining
pollutants or oil exploitation and chemical residues from agricultural fields that use
antibiotics, insecticides and fertilizers (1).
The problem of water and environmental pollution isreaching critical levels, especially in
low and medium countries resources where large or medium cities do not have water
treatment plants and where polluted rivers they end up affecting nearby populations and
destroy in their path the natural resources of flora and fauna until reaching the ocean.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1.4 billion pounds of
garbage end up at sea every year. So, the oceans also suffer heavy metal pollution,
chemicals, drugs, insecticides, radioactive substances and others water soluble
contaminants.
Most high-resource countries are aware of the problem of environmental pollution and
what it would imply for their residents the affectation of their natural water resources. In
sayings countries there are pollution prevention and control measures of water based on
legislation that prohibits companies and industries releasing polluting waste to rivers.
Further, wastewater is channeled so that it does not contaminate resources natural or
artificial water and treatment plants are established of water in large and medium-sized
cities, which Limit the level of contaminants. Although many countries of low and medium
resources also have regulatory policies, in most of these cannot be implemented. Faced
with the dramatic situation facing the world population regarding the lack of water for
consumption in the future not very far away, the need to assess the situation of water
pollution in rivers that flow throughout cities in countries of medium and low resources.
Often in such places rivers pollute water resources throughout their territory, in
neighboring countries and finally ocean water, on which it depends The entire world
population. The problem of low countries and medium resources is therefore a global
problem that affects all The world population. Information on the degree of contamination
of water resources in these countries is crucial to alert their governments and international
environmental protection agencies on the need to establish prevention and control
measures for Water Pollution. Most of these nations are not in ability to initiate, implement
and maintain preventive measures and pollution control of its water resources, so They
need international investment.
Colombia, despite being a country of medium to high resources, does not it has water
treatment systems for rivers that flow to throughout its territory. Only until 2017 the
construction of a water treatment plant that would allow decontamination of 80% of the
water of the Bogotá river from 2024. Until then, Extreme pollution levels will continue to
flow through this He laughed to its mouth. It is an article published in this same issue of the
magazine by Diaz-Martinez et al. (9) an investigation into the grade is reported of
contamination of the Bogotá river before its arrival in the capital Colombian Microbial
contamination measurements and by Heavy metals are made in different stations, which
are located from the source of the river to a sector located after of studying for a population
close to 20 000 inhabitants. This article shows that even the samples taken at the top of the
Bogotá river have a significant deterioration of water quality circulating due to the high level
of microorganisms derived from human and animal excreta and the number of heavy metals
producto of the release of industrial waste from tanneries that exist in that region. The
study shows that human activity, even in small populations, it seriously contaminates
resources natural water, puts the health of its inhabitants at risk and affects the flora and
fauna that is next to the tributaries.

Oscar G. Gómez-Duarte
Head of the Division of Pediatric Infectology, Department of Pediatrics, University at
Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and
Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY, USA.
oscargom@buffalo.edu