Billions at risk for diseases without safe drinking water, sanitation

Issue: September 2017

Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus

A global report issued by WHO and UNICEF showed that 2.1 billion people live without access to safe, readily available water and 4.5 billion lack proper sanitation, increasing the risk for acquiring and spreading infectious disease.

The Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene report, the first global assessment of safely managed drinking water and sanitation services, found that billions of people have poor sanitation and contaminated water, which can enable the transmission of cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid. People who live in rural areas are the most vulnerable, but progress toward basic sanitation is slow and 90 countries will not achieve universal access to basic sanitation services by 2030 as called for in the new Sustainable Development Goals. Closing the gaps in sanitation services between urban and rural areas remains a priority, according to WHO.

Hygiene plays a key role in preventing the spread of disease; however, in the 70 countries with available data, the report found significant inequalities in their access to water and soap for handwashing. Access varied from 15% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa to 76% in western Asia and northern Africa. According to the report, 150 million still drink untreated water from surface water sources.

“Safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege of only those who are rich or live in urban centers,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MSc, WHO director-general, said in the release. “These are some of the most basic requirements for human health, and all countries have a responsibility to ensure that everyone can access them.”

Reference:

World Health Organization. Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. http://who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/jmp-2017/en/. Accessed July 17, 2017.

Disclosure: Tedros reports no relevant financial disclosures.