Пристап до вода за пиење во руралните училишта во североисточниот регион на Република Македонија

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to show the status of access to drinking water and sanitation in schools in rural areas and exposure of children population to contaminants through drinking water, but, also to address the inequalities in the access to drinking water and sanitation between primary and high schools in rural and urban setting in the municipalities of Northeastern region. Final goal is to strengthen the role of precautionary principle in public health and environmental protection with particular attention to the future of children and youths. In rural areas of the region, teaching is attended by 6887 pupils, or 31.64% from total number of pupils. 941 of them are high school pupils, and the rest 5946 are pupils fromI-IX grade. 16.9% from school population in rural area has access to safe drinking water from urban water supply systems, 39.5% use water from small-scale water supply systems, and 43.6% have their own water supply objects (dugged wells, drilled wells, capped source) or public fountains in the settlements. In the period 2014till 2017, have been analyzed 817 samples from local water supply systems – measuring site school object and 361 samples from schools which have their own water supply. 5.5% of samples from localwater supply systems have been bacteriologically improper, and 19.1% from schools with their own water supply. Deviations from chemical parameters were 9.5%, and consecutively31.5%. In the access to sanitation in the rural areas prevail septic tanks. From total 5118 registered cases of enterocolitis in the region during the period of 2014 till 2017, 22.3% were enterocolitis at age 7 to 19. To reduce the inequalities and to achieve the goal each child to realize right to quality education and service to water and sanitation strengthening of monitoring system in schools in the Republic of Macedonia is needed according to newest criteria of the Joint Monitoring Programme of WHO/UNICEF and to create database which will serve in the process of decision making, sharing responsibilities and planning financing, at national and local level.