G8 health deal overlooks what may be the biggest child killer

8 July 2008

Before the G8 meet again, millions will have died from a lack of sanitation and water.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Irby

Commitments from the G8 on health stand to be undermined by a failure to tackle the global sanitation and water crisis.

Whilst millions of dollars of scarce health resources are being used on treating preventable water borne diseases, sanitation and water are again conspicuous in their absence from the health agenda. 

International medical journal The Lancet today highlighted the disappointing neglect of sanitation and water in response to the G8's health commitments: 

"Poor access to water and sanitation accounts for 10% of the global disease burden, it is seriously short-sighted not to give more time, attention, and resources to these basic health needs" Download the full article ( PDF 92Kb)

A WaterAid report, Tackling the silent killer: The case for sanitation ( PDF 1Mb), published at the G8, highlights the devastating impact of sanitation on child mortality. The report shows that sanitation is the single greatest contributing factor to child deaths and yet it remains the most neglected development sector.

In February 2008, in the UN's International Year of Sanitation, the Japanese Government promised a commitment to sanitation and water:

"Japan, as chair [of] the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, will play a leading role in the international community's discussions concerning water and sanitation." Masahiko Koumura, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The promise of the Japanese government and other G8 leaders to address this crisis has not been met. The G8 Communique's references to sanitation and water fall short of concrete commitments to address this crisis. It is clear from drafts leaked earlier that commitments on sanitation and water have been progressively weakened.

"The G8's failure to respond to the sanitation and water crisis, in this the International Year of Sanitation, in a climate of heightened concern from the international health community, raises serious questions about the accountability of the G8 leaders to the needs and demands of the poor. Before the G8 meet again, millions will have died from a lack of sanitation and water. How long must the world wait?" Oliver Cumming, WaterAid's Policy Officer

WaterAid, as part of the End Water Poverty Campaign, will continue to call on governments to take action to address this crisis. Without a global action plan and a commitment to finance national plans for sanitation, progress on achieving most of the MDGs will be thwarted.

ENDS

For more information and interviews contact: Charlotte Godber on +81 (0)90 5323 3192 / 2028 or email: charlottegodber@wateraid.org