Parasitic Diseases in Water Resources Development

Book excerpt: Issues a call for action to correct the gross neglect of the health consequences of water impoundment and irrigation projects. Arguments and proposed lines of action respond to the documented magnitude of human misery and incapacity that follow when water development projects make no provision for disease control. Concentrating on parasitic diseases as the most dramatic and reliable indicators of adverse effects on health, the book aims to persuade the financiers, planners, and managers of these projects to make health concerns a central part of the development dialogue. To this end the book draws upon a large body of evidence to demonstrate both the magnitude of project-related health risks and the feasibility of their prevention and control. Citing the traditionally passive role of the health sector as a contributing factor, the book also aims to encourage health authorities to enter the project cycle with a more insistent voice. Throughout the book, emphasis is placed on recent knowledge about parasitic diseases that underscores the feasibility of formulating policies where the goal of economic progress is compatible with the protection and promotion of health.