Supporting awareness raising and active knowledge sharing about prevention of waterborne infections and environmental surveillance of infectious diseases
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
(
Government
)
#SDGAction52739
Description
The main objective of this action is to support ensuring the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation.
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has over thirty-year experience on waterborne outbreak awareness raising and the institute has initiated wastewater-based surveillance actions already 60 years ago.
By participating actively on current global efforts to integrate environmental surveillance of infectious diseases for public health actions, we contribute also on awareness raising about importance of further strengthen and implement the human rights to water and sanitation.
We are committed to provide information how to efficiently detect and identify waterborne pathogens from water and how to conduct environmental surveillance of multiple infectious disease agents.
Global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the implementation and method development of wastewater-based infectious disease epidemiology. While contributing the SDG3, the enhanced, cost-efficient surveillance of parameters with public health relevance from wastewater contributes also to SDG6 by raising awareness of waterborne pathogens and value of safe water supply.
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Department of Safety, Security and Health, Finland
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Finland
Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Environmental Health research group
Water is essential for life, and the quality of the water we consume has a direct impact on our health. The research conducted by THL covers the quality of water and the microbiological and chemical problems caused by the way that the water is treated, distributed and used. THL also provides assistance to the authorities in the investigation of waterborne outbreaks (www.thl.fi/water).
THL’s wastewater study produces information for example on the regional prevalence of coronavirus and any changes to it (https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases-and-vaccinations/surveillance…).
Wastewater-based surveillance as pandemic preparedness tool (WastPan) project develops a wastewater-based monitoring for surveillance of multiple pathogenic microbes and their antibiotic resistance spread (www.thl.fi/wastpan).
SDGS & Targets
Goal 3
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
3.1
3.1.1
Maternal mortality ratio
3.1.2
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
3.2
3.2.1
Under-five mortality rate
3.2.2
Neonatal mortality rate
3.3
By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
3.3.1
Number of new HIV infections per 1,000 uninfected population, by sex, age and key populations
3.3.2
Tuberculosis incidence per 100,000 population
3.3.3
Malaria incidence per 1,000 population
3.3.4
Hepatitis B incidence per 100,000 population
3.3.5
Number of people requiring interventions against neglected tropical diseases
3.4
3.4.1
Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease
3.4.2
Suicide mortality rate
3.5
Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
3.5.1
Coverage of treatment interventions (pharmacological, psychosocial and rehabilitation and aftercare services) for substance use disorders
3.5.2
Alcohol per capita consumption (aged 15 years and older) within a calendar year in litres of pure alcohol
3.6
3.6.1
Death rate due to road traffic injuries
3.7
By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes
3.7.1
Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods
3.7.2
Adolescent birth rate (aged 10-14 years; aged 15-19 years) per 1,000 women in that age group
3.8
Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all
3.8.1
Coverage of essential health services
3.8.2
Proportion of population with large household expenditures on health as a share of total household expenditure or income
3.9
3.9.1
Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
3.9.2
Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)
3.9.3
Mortality rate attributed to unintentional poisoning
3.a
3.a.1
Age-standardized prevalence of current tobacco use among persons aged 15 years and older
3.b
Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all
3.b.1
Proportion of the target population covered by all vaccines included in their national programme
3.b.2
3.b.3
Proportion of health facilities that have a core set of relevant essential medicines available and affordable on a sustainable basis
3.c
3.c.1
Health worker density and distribution
3.d
Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks
3.d.1
International Health Regulations (IHR) capacity and health emergency preparedness
3.d.2
Percentage of bloodstream infections due to selected antimicrobial-resistant organisms
Goal 6
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1
By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.1.1
Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
6.2
By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations
6.2.1
Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water
6.3
By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
6.3.1
Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated
6.3.2
Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
6.4
6.4.1
Change in water-use efficiency over time
6.4.2
Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources
6.5
By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.5.1
Degree of integrated water resources management
6.5.2
Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation
6.6
6.6.1
Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time
6.a
6.a.1
Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan
6.b
Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
6.b.1
Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management
Goal 11
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
11.1
By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
11.1.1
Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
11.2
11.2.1
Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
11.3
11.3.1
Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
11.3.2
Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
11.4
Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage
11.4.1
Total per capita expenditure on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by source of funding (public, private), type of heritage (cultural, natural) and level of government (national, regional, and local/municipal)
11.5
By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations
11.5.1
Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
11.5.2
Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global domestic product (GDP)
11.5.3
(a) Damage to critical infrastructure and (b) number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
11.6
By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
11.6.1
Proportion of municipal solid waste collected and managed in controlled facilities out of total municipal waste generated, by cities
11.6.2
Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)
11.7
11.7.1
Average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space for public use for all, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
11.7.2
Proportion of persons victim of non-sexual or sexual harassment, by sex, age, disability status and place of occurrence, in the previous 12 months
11.a
Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
11.a.1
Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space
11.b
By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels
11.b.1
Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030
11.b.2
Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
11.c
Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials
SDG 14 targets covered
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Region
- Africa
- Europe
Other beneficiaries
Our stakeholders are waterworks producing and delivering drinking water, municipalities, building owners and private sector responsible of water infrastructure and water-related recreation, health and health protection authorities and public.
Through our collaborative research projects and other connections, we will work together with our partners and their stakeholders in selected European and sub-Saharan countries.
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Contact Information
Tarja, Chief Specialist