1 in 6 have safe water
42 per cent of households have no toilets, and one in six people have no access to safe water.
Water: single largest cause of illness
Lack of safe water and sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness.
Over 60 per cent of Africans lack access to a proper toilet, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ahead of World Water Day – observed on 22 March – whose 2008 theme is “Sanitation Matters.”
The Day aims to raise awareness to the plight of 2.6 billion people worldwide who live without toilets in their homes and are therefore vulnerable to numerous health risks.
Unsafe water and disease
1.8 million people die each year from diarrheal disease (including cholera) due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. Ninety percent are children, under five years of age, mostly in developing countries
Water-related diseases
Half the people in developing countries are suffering from water-related diseases
The goal of the Year is to raise awareness and accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015. The International Year of Sanitation was established by the UN General Assembly.
Secretary General’s Message
With more than 2.6 billion people – 40 per cent of the world’s population – lacking access to toilets and other sanitation facilities, the head of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) has urged governments to adopt low-cost technology to ensure adequate sanitation for all.
While the world has made significant progress in improving people’s access to safe water, access to improved sanitation “lags far behind,” UN-Habitat’s Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka said in a message to the World Toilet Summit, which opened today in New Delhi, India.
