Up to 80% of diseases in Vietnam are caused by polluted water resources, said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment at a ceremony in Hanoi Mar. 23 to mark the World Water Day and 60th birthday of the World Meteorological Organization. Around six million Vietnamese people have contracted one of six water-related diseases over the past four years. The expenditures for cholera, typhoid, dysentery and malaria check-ups and treatment are estimated at VND400 billion ($20.9 million). Climate change and rising sea levels will affect water resources and will be challenges for Vietnam to deal with in the coming years as the Southeast Asian country is listed among fiver countries that will be the hardest hit. Up to 1,000 communes in Vietnam’s Red River and Mekong Delta regions are facing high risks of arsenic-contained water sources. Vietnam has 180 processing and industrial zones, 12,259 healthcare facilities, 72,012 enterprises, which discharge hundreds of untreated wastewater cubic meters into its rivers a day.
