Nearly One-Third Indians Drink Purified Water

Less than one-third of households in India drink purified water , even though barely 39% of them get piped water, making them prone to several water-borne infections such as diarrhoea, jaundice, cholera and gastroenteritis.

Of those drinking purified water, 37.1% are in the urban and 25.3% are in villages, revealed the findings of the National Healthcare Survey 2013 (NHS-13). The primary area of concern is the sourcing of water from open wells, rivers, streams, lakes etc that can often be highly contaminated.

The most common forms of water purification were electronic purifiers and water filters that were used by 84.40% and 80.66% users respectively.

The study also claimed that about 15% population was without any protection from mosquitoes — the cause of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria.

Of those who use mosquito protection, 51.6% prefer using coils, followed by mosquito nets (32%). While nets are widely used in villages, urban population preferred the use of coils. Interestingly, liquid mosquito repellents were used by barely 19% people.

In food and protein preferences, pulses remain to be the most preferred source of protein in India, with 81.1% people preferring it. Dairy products come a close second at 55.1%, followed by meat that is consumed by 35.3% people.

Though Indians are mobile savvy, still more than half of its population does not make use of mobile phones for healthcare purposes. In all, about 12,000 households were analysed across 12 states for the study.

Source: Hindustan Times

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Taxonomy

• Public Health
• Purification
• Drinking Water