Making sure that water is clean for drinking, cooking and washing is a key element in disease prevention — especially in low-resource countries increasingly facing shortages of vaccines, medicines and medical supplies.
In WiRED International’s continued effort to counter the vacuum left by the administration’s gutting of global aid, we have just finished our Water Sanitation and Purification animation — the third of six planned animations. These animations show families how to protect their health, work with community health workers (CHWs) and together reduce the chances of disease for everyone in their area.
Water may look clean, but still teem with germs, bacteria, viruses and parasites. Harmful and often deadly diseases caused by unsafe water include:
- Diarrhea
- Cholera
- Typhoid
- Dysentery
- Polio.
WiRED’s engaging animation is available free to all and teaches three simple step-by-step ways to purify drinking water at home:
- Solar disinfection (SODIS)
- Boiling
- Chlorine treatment.
Note that these methods do not remove chemical pollutants from water.
The animation also discusses the dangers presented by human and animal waste, open sanitation and lack of proper handwashing and explains how diseases are transmitted through water, and the signs and symptoms that unsafe water can cause, such as:
- Weakness with a loss of focus
- Diarrhea and vomiting
- Dehydration
- Skin and ear infections
- Eye redness and irritation.
WiRED CHWs will use our new animation to help people learn how to make water free from germs. This animation, along with all the animations in this infectious disease prevention series, is available to teachers, community officials and CHWs everywhere. In addition to being available online, the animation can be downloaded to phones through HealthMAP.
Contaminated water affects everyone in a community, including animals. Safe water saves lives!
WiRED’s Six New Animations Include:
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- Infectious Disease Basics
- Cholera
- Sanitation and Water Purification (Now Available!)
- Personal Hygiene and Healthy Living (Coming Soon!)
- Recognizing Signs and Symptoms
Federica Sismondo, Animator
Federica Sismondo is a freelance 3D artist and motion graphics designer with over two decades of experience. Originally from Italy, she now resides in Copenhagen. Her expertise spans 3D modeling, animation, projection mapping and post-production, with her graphics work frequently featured in theaters, live events and television. Notably, Federica’s extensive credits include projection mapping on Disney castles in both Anaheim and Paris.Â
Several years ago, she created an impactful rheumatic heart disease animation for WiRED, which has since educated tens of thousands about the disease, its causes and prevention. Federica now dedicates her considerable skills to WiRED’s mission, helping millions in low-resource regions understand infectious diseases and how to prevent them.
Enlarging Our Community Health Program Initiative
In addition to creating animations, WiRED is amping up our community health worker (CHW) program. WiRED’s professional-level training programs have a proven track record, with CHWs demonstrating exceptional effectiveness during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now significantly expanding our efforts to increase the number and enhance the skills of CHWs globally by:
- Training More CHWs: We are boosting our commitment and support to increase the number of basic CHW training classes in vulnerable regions.
- Developing Advanced Training: We are creating a 15-module Advanced CHW Training program that will elevate CHW preparedness to a new level, open to all certified CHWs worldwide.
- Launching a Mental Health Series: Recognizing the serious physical and mental impact of funding cuts, this seven-part series is specifically designed for CHWs to use in their outreach efforts.
- Expanding Continuing Medical Education (CME): We are inviting all CHWs globally to enroll in our expanded CME program, cost free. Our innovative new app, HealthMAP, is a unique tool that delivers CME programs directly to CHWs everywhere, regardless of where they received training. HealthMAP is available on Android and Apple devices.
