A systematic review on water accessibility and safety in Ghana: The plausibility to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 by 2030

Abstract

BACKGROUND Water is essential in everyday life hence, there is a need for it to be available in quality and quantity to all. This study aimed to review relevant published studies on water accessibility and safety in Ghana from 2015 to 2022 to determine the plausibility of Ghana achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 by 2030. METHODOLOGY A systematic review was conducted based on the PRISMA guidelines using four databases including ProQuest, Science Direct, Web of Science and Scopus. Studies with data on specified keywords and published in English from January 2015 to June 2022 were included in this study. Duplicated titles were removed and the title, abstract and full text of remained studies were reviewed by two independent coders. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes. RESULTS Ten studies met the criteria and the majority of them used qualitative design (60%). Five main themes were identified including; causes of water contamination, the prevalence of waterborne diseases, types of water sources, implemented policies and challenges for policy implementation. The government implemented policies to provide safe and potable drinking water for the citizen and now, about 72% of the population have access to treated pipe water. Some challenges facing implemented policies include political interest in illegal mining, inadequate waste disposal facilities, and poverty. CONCLUSION This study shows that Ghana can achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 which is "Access to clean and affordable water for all" by 2030. The government, public health organizations and stakeholders should work together to alleviate the challenges faced in achieving this goal.