Contaminated water threatens Syrian children’s health: UN

The United Nations’ children agency has warned that the parching summer and a scarcity of clean drinking water are putting children in war-wreaked Syria at high risk of diseases.

“The situation is alarming particularly for children who are susceptible to water borne diseases,” Hanaa Singer, the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Syria, was quoted as saying in a statement released by the agency on Friday.

“With the crisis now in its fifth year, water has become even more scarce and unsafe, and poor hygiene conditions especially among the displaced communities are putting more children at severe risk.”

According to the statement, the intensification of conflict throughout the country has caused new waves of population displacement, putting more strain on an already fragile water and sanitation network.

“One area where the risk of disease outbreak is particularly high is Deir ez-Zor in the east. Reports indicate that raw sewage is causing serious contamination to the Euphrates River on which the local population depends for its water supply. In the area 1,144 of typhoid cases have been reported,” the statement further read, adding that high fuel prices are another factor affecting civilians’ access to water.

According to UNICEF, since the beginning of the year, Syria has reported 105,886 cases of acute diarrhea. It also reports a sharp increase of Hepatitis A cases with a record 1,700 cases reported in one week alone last February.

Syria has been facing foreign-sponsored militancy since March 2011. The violence fueled by Takfiri terrorist groups has reportedly left over 230,000 people dead so far.

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