An Australian independent aid project is tackling water and sanitation problems in Kiribati to combat the nation’s high infant mortality rate.

One in 20 newborns die before their first birthday because of illnesses related to unclean drinking water.

The Island Rescue Project is providing solar powered water desalination equipment and water purifying kits to communities to prevent disease.

Island Rescue founder Carol Armstrong said the situation in Kiribati is unacceptable.

“Often a baby will be born and there’s no water to wash the baby – we can’t even comprehend that in our lifestyle,” she said.

“When one in 20 babies are dying from diarrhoea and other treatable diseases it’s just not acceptable in this day and age.

“As the parents are suffering from diarrhoea and other infections, they’re going to pass that onto the children too.”

Armstrong’s organisation is teaching communities to make household sized solar-powered desalination units to produce enough clean drinking water for families.

They have also been promised a commercial-size osmosis desalination plant by a major water company.

The Island Rescue Project will also provide water treatments including LifeStraw filters, which filter out 99 per cent of parasites, looking into community sized filter units.

Armstrong says the situation in Kiribati needed urgent attention.

“There really isn’t adequate water supplies for the island population,” she said.

“I just had to do something about it.”

Armstrong believes the situation in Kiribati has been overlooked.

“They’ve had a lot of foreign aid but it just doesn’t go quite far enough,” she said.

“The government is struggling financially to cover all the areas that need to be addressed so mothers’ and babies’ health, although it’s important is a little further down the list.”

Meanwhile, the Kiribati Ministry of Health is warning about the country’s soaring population.

It has set up a group called HOPE to take its message about the impact of population growth to local communities.

Kiribati has a population of just over 100,000, with half of them living around Tarawa and Betio.

There are about 2000 births a year and a natural death rate of about 400 to 500 annually.

The head of HOPE, Dr Teatao Tiira, says the community needs to understand the data and the effects a growing population has.

The Catholic Church in Kiribati has several times voiced its opposition to family planning efforts.