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
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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