The Dirty Truth About Sanitation as a Public Health Issue

Few factors play a more important role in global economic development and quality of life than sanitation. Though progress has been made in providing access to adequate sanitation, there is much work left to be done. Here are two statistics to consider:.

• One target of the United Nations’ 2015 Millennium Development Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability was to reduce the proportion of people without access to improved sanitation by 50%. But the effort fell short by nearly 700 million people.¹
• The World Bank estimates that 2.4 billion people, mostly in developing countries, don’t have even basic sanitation services, such as latrines.2

Statistics like these underline the importance of public health programs and public health degrees. The value of adequate sanitation services cannot be overstated. Not only do these services help prevent the spread of disease, improve nutrition, and provide for a cleaner and safer environment, they also help stimulate economic growth. The World Bank estimates, for example, that poor sanitation costs Bangladesh the equivalent of 6.3% in gross domestic product annually.²

Sanitation in the developing world represents one area of specialization in the vast array of public health careers. Public health professionals are involved in preventive medicine, community health education, monitoring environmental hazards, and collecting and analyzing data. Earning a Master of Public Health degree can open the door to more specialized jobs including biosecurity specialist, infectious disease specialist, chief medical officer, environmental scientist, health communications specialist, and many others.Jobs in public health also carry a range of salaries, from $33,000 for a statistician, to $161,000 for a health service administrator, for example. Both figures are starting salaries for professionals who have just earned a master’s in public health.³ .

Many of the nation’s top universities offer a Master of Public Health. Public health graduate programs are also available at online universities, and offer greater flexibility by allowing students to work at home and progress according to their own schedule. These programs provide a solid foundation for those looking to enter the field and offer training in the skills that are required to meet the ever-changing needs of populations in the U.S. and around the world. And that’s important, because public health knows no borders. Its mission is to ensure that all people can live safe and healthy lives..

Walden University is an accredited institution offering an online Master of Public Health degree program that provides a core foundation in public health within a global perspective..

1 Source: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs392/en/.

2Source: www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sanitation.

3 Source: www.healthcarepathway.com/Health-Care-Careers/Public-Health-Career.html.

Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.