With water tables receding and up to 30 per cent of water points in populated rural areas having dried up, water and sanitation have been core issues in primary health care.
UNICEF has already provided relief supplies including oral re-hydration salts, jerry cans and water containers, dry rations and materials for sanitation management for people living in temporary shelters.
Flooded basements are drying out, but health and sanitation problems loom.
Unimproved sanitation facilities include uncovered dry latrine (without privacy), bucket latrine and no facilities (open defecation).
To draw attention to the severity of the problem, UNICEF today issued a special alert on the water, sanitation and hygiene situation - Drying up: The growing water crisis facing Syria and the region.
One sanitation aid group, SOIL, has provided 300 dry composting toilets that turn human waste into fertilizer.
Control of bacterial contaminants in dried foods requires high-quality raw materials having low contamination, adequate sanitation in the processing plant, pasteurization before drying, and storage conditions that protect from infection by dust, insects, and rodents or other animals.
With the capital dry, some government buildings have closed because of a lack of sanitation.
Problems included blocked access routes, collapsed bridges, lack of dry land to erect tents, lack of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, shortages of relief supplies, and "difficult security conditions".
