This is with reference to a research about villagers crippled by diseases which highlighted the painful story of the people living in rural areas of our homeland Afghanistan. They have been suffering from backache, rheumatism and renal ailments for the past couple of years.

This situation has developed from using ground water with high concentration of total dissolved salts generally and fluoride particularly above WHO`s standard range. At least 95 percent of 1.5 million people still fetch groundwater from wells for drinking purposes in the rural areas of Afghanistan.

The groundwater in nearly 90 percent of the patches in such areas is saline to brackish and not potable according to WHO standards. The high concentration of salts and minerals, including sodium, calcium, magnesium, chloride and particularly fluoride, is harmful for people living in those regions. Research carried out by PCSIR scientists in countryside regions show that 78.77 percent of groundwater samples had fluoride content, exceeding the limit of 1.5 mg/L proposed by the WHO.

Chemical analysis of 425 groundwater samples from different villages was carried out by the PCSIR while tracing for ions and metals. The groundwater is concentrated with high fluoride along the north and northeastern side of the Afghanistan whereas localized enrichments have also been found in the central and southeastern part of our country.

The groundwater of these areas is not potable. Fluoride bearing granite rocks help in dissolving fluoride in groundwater resources. Elevated fluoride levels have been investigated in almost all parts of the region whereas the local population was consuming water with fluoride concentration as high as 5.30mg/L. It is pertinent to quote here a technical perspective regarding fluoride. The use of fluoride is considered beneficial to human health if taken in limited quantity and it causes dental and skeletal illnesses such as, thyroid, and kidney problems if its concentration exceeds 1.5mg/L in drinking water.

The chronic intake of excessive fluoride leads to severe and permanent bone and joint deformations in skeletal weakness for which the early symptoms include sporadic pain and stiffness of joints and finally the spine, major joints and muscles and the nervous system are damaged. Severe forms of weakness typically develop only when the fluoride concentration of drinking water is greater than 5 to 10mg/L. Dental or skeletal weakness is irreversible and has no remedy and treatment and its only remedy is by keeping fluoride intake within safe limits. In order to prevent the people of rural areas from such irreversible ailments, it is the need of the people to have hygienic and clean water.