Access to Safe Drinking Water for Papuan Citizens Continues to Decline

Access to clean drinking water for the people of Papua remains low. According to a report by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the percentage of households with access to clean drinking water in Papua from 2016 to 2020 experienced a drastic decline.

The most significant decrease in access to clean drinking water in Papua occurred in 2019. The percentage was 31.82%, a decrease of 32.45% compared to 2018. Furthermore, the figure for access to clean drinking water in Papua in 2020 fell again to 30.23%.

(Read More: [Score of Indonesia's Water Quality Index Rises to 53.53 Points in 2020](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2021/06/29/skor-indeks-kualitas-air-indonesia-naik-jadi-5353-poin-pada-2020))

The BPS defines clean drinking water as water sourced from taps, boreholes/pumps, protected wells, or protected springs, rainwater, located at least 10 meters from waste disposal sites. Bottled water is excluded from this definition.

Unsafe drinking water is a source of diarrheal diseases in the community. Most diarrheal diseases are preventable through the consumption of clean and safe drinking water. According to the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), an estimated 89,708 cases of diarrhea occurred in Papua in 2018.