20 Oct 2016
Health Awareness Camp: Arsenic in Drinking water
Through the cumulative discussions, interactions and field engagement of Arsenic Knowledge and Action Network in Assam, since August 2014, the issue of arsenic in water for drinking came to be understood as a communication problem. The same highlighted the need for affected communities’ to be informed about the issue so that precautionary measures can be taken. Hence, a workshop was organized during 15th-16th June 2016 at WSSO, PHED, Guwahati in collaboration with UNICEF and Government of Assam. Community members from water quality affected regions, WSSO, PHED, Health Department of Government of Assam, UNICEF, educational Institutions and civil society organizations participated in the workshop. The workshop addressed communication problems related to water quality issues and initiated a process of building and testing communication strategy to enable water safety though a collaborative process. The workshop had aimed to understand the priorities and perception of the community with regards to arsenic free water. The concerns that emerged from the workshop were about building community level awareness about the issue of arsenic in drinking water. In addition to this, there was a felt need for identifying people who could be affected due to drinking arsenic contaminated water so that they could be treated.