Economy suffers a loss of about Rs 112 billion per annum: workshop on Wash Adaptation Plan for Climate Change told

Pakistan's economy suffers a loss of about Rs 112 billion per annum, over Rs 300 million a day, in terms of health cost and lost earning due to water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases.
Per capita water availability has decreased at an alarming rate from 5,300 cubic metres to 1100 cubic metres while the challenge will further aggravate by ground-water pollution and depletion, rapid urbanisation and growth of urban slums, said Saqib Aleem Joint Secretary Ministry of Environment.
He was addressing to participants of a workshop titled "National Consultative Workshop on Wash Adaptation Plan for Climate Change", organised by Ministry of Environment in collaboration with Unicef here on Wednesday. Saqib further said that water resources are deteriorating, both quantitatively and qualitatively and consequently, inadequate water supply, poor sanitation and hygiene will result in the high incidence of water and sanitation related diseases, which in turn will increase morbidity and mortality rates and pose a major threat to the survival and development of children.
He said that the national workshop is a pioneering effort towards sectoral adaptation initiatives, which will provide specific guidelines for addressing water, sanitation and hygiene specific issues in the country. "Pakistan is among those countries which are most vulnerable to climate change and global warming. The frequency and cost of natural disasters have risen dramatically in the region, particularly in Pakistan", Saqib said, adding that rising temperatures and reduced precipitation in the region would further exacerbate water scarcity and water contamination.
He said that there is an emerging evidence of climate change effects on human health due to poor WASH practices, driven by water scarcity and contamination. As per predictions, water will be among the most impacted sectors of climate change, Director General Environment Jawed Ali Khan said. Fresh water is a vital, finite and vulnerable resource and the time has come to recognise the severity of the problem which could best be addressed by chalking out comprehensive climate change adaptation plan.