Improving Global Health with Clean Water and Sanitation

FACT SHEET Improving Global Health with Clean Water and Sanitation Clean water and sanitation are fundamental to and essential for good health. Yet, 1.5 million children per year (4,100 per day) die from diarrheal diseases – a result of unsafe water and lack of sanitation.1

www.globalhealth.org

Nearly 900 0 million people lack access to improved Distribution of the 884 Million People drinking- water sources and 2.6 billion people do not Lacking Access to Improved Water Sources1 use improved sanitation.1 Urban-rural disparities remain great. Seventy percent of those without access to improved water sources KƚŚĞƌ > ϳй live in rural areas.1 In sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, ϰй water supply coverage in urban areas is nearly double that of rural areas.1 While 76 percent of urban populations access ĂƐƚ͕ ^ŽƵƚŚ Θ improved sanitation facilities, only 45 percent of rural ^ŽƵƚŚĞĂƐƚ ƐŝĂ ^ƵďͲ^ĂŚĂƌĂŶ ĨƌŝĐĂ populations access improved sanitation facilities.1 ϱϮй ϯϳй Population growth and inadequate efforts to scale up access in sub-Saharan Africa between 1990 and 2004 contributed to 23 percent of the population losing access to clean water and 30 percent losing access to sanitation.2 More than half of schools worldwide lack access to LAC = Latin America and Caribbean clean drinking water, toilets and hygiene education.3

Infectious diseases Many infectious diseases are spread through unclean water and poor sanitation. Clean household water sources allow for proper hand washing to prevent the spread of pathogens.4 The risk of contracting waterborne diseases (e.g., guinea worm, schistosomiasis, trachoma, polio and diarrheal diseases, such as cholera and dysentery) is reduced by eliminating the need to collect water from infested sources.5, 6 Access to clean water and sanitation can reduce diarrheal diseases by nearly 90 percent.7 Safe disposal of human waste would prevent diarrheal diseases and foodborne illnesses, and allow for the elimination of measles and polio.5, 8

The health of women and girls Women and girls face unique health risks related to water and sanitation. During pregnancy, consumption of unclean water can increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for mothers and their babies.9 Lack of household access to clean water and sanitation requires women and girls to travel long distances to haul water or use a latrine, putting them at risk of sexual and other forms of violence. Women and girls are responsible for collecting drinking water in over two-thirds of all households in developing countries.1 Improving household and community access would reduce the time required to fetch water, allowing for increased productivity and the opportunity to earn an income and/or attend school.5 Separate school-based sanitation facilities for boys and girls are needed to ensure safety for girls and to lessen families’ concerns about sending their daughters to school.3

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Access to clean water and sanitation facilities can be achieved via differing levels and costs of interventions. High-tech interventions are not necessarily the most appropriate in every environment. 14 Measuring Progress

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Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 7 aims to, “Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.�

Achieving MDG 7 would result in 320 million productive days of life gained per year due to improved health, and 1.5 billion additional healthy days for children under the age of five.

Global cost estimates to reach MDG targets for water and sanitation range between US $6.7 billion to US $75 billion per year. 7 In 2008, total development aid for sanitation and drinking water was over U.S. $7.4 billion. This represented only 5 percent of total development aid commitments.

Commitments to water and sanitation have declined as a share of total development assistance over the past decade, and were lower than all other social-sector commitments in 2008. 7 The global water target will likely be met, but progress toward the global sanitation goal is not on track. Even if the target for water is met, 625 million people will still lack access to improved drinking sources in 2015.

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Proportion of Population Using Improved Water and Sanitation in Selected Regions1

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References

JULY 2011

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World Health Organization, UNICEF. Progress on sanitation and drinking-water: 2010 update. Geneva: World Health Organization 2010.

World Health Organization, UNICEF. Meeting the MDG for water and sanitation.; 2006.

UNICEF,.Water sanitation and hygiene education for schools: roundtable proceedings and framework for action; 2005.

Mintz E, et al. Making the case for household hygiene and safe water: where’s the evidence? Washington, DC; 2007.

Cairncross S, Valdmanis V. Water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion. In: Jamison D, Breman J, Measham A, Alleyne G, Claeson M, Evans D, et al., editors.

Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (Chapter 41). 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Oxford; 2006.

6. Barry M. The tail end of guinea worm: global eradication without a drug or vaccine. N Engl J Med. 2007;365(25):2561-4.

7. World Health Organization, Water UN. UN-water global annual assessment of sanitation and drinking-water 2010: targeting resources for better results. G 8. Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The disease and the virus. Available from: http://www.polioeradication.org/disease.asp 9. UNICEF. Water for life: making it happen; 2005.

10. Mintz E, Lantagne D, Quick R. Making the case for household hygiene and safe water: where’s the evidence? Washington, DC; 2007.

11. Bartram J, Lewis K, Lenton R, Wright A. Focusing on improved water and sanitation for health. Lancet. 2005;365:810.

12. Curtis V, Cairncross S. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhea risk in the community: a systematic review. Lancet Infec Dis. 2003;3:275-81.

13. Cairncross S, et al. Water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion. In: Jamison D, et al, editors. Disease Control Priorities. New York: Oxford; 2006.

14. Pruss-Ustun A, Bos R, Gore F, Bartram J. Safer water, better health: costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote health. 2008