Tackling the silent killer
 |
| Nearly 40% of the world's population don't have a safe, clean or private place to go to the toilet with many relying on unsafe latrines like this in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Credit: Martin Argles |
The case for sanitation
Every year, 9.7 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday. A shocking fact alone, but one that is perhaps more shocking when you hear that poor sanitation could be a major factor in nearly a quarter of these deaths. So why is sanitation still seen as merely a symptom of poverty rather than as a major contributing factor?
Our new report Tackling the silent killer - the case for sanitation ( PDF 1Mb) explores these issues and calls on governments and decision makers to prioritise sanitation alongside health and education in helping the world's poorest communities break out of poverty.
Oliver Cumming, WaterAid's Policy Officer, and author of the report says: "Improved sanitation could bring the single greatest reduction in childhood deaths in the developing world, yet the sanitation sector is in crisis."
Nearly 40% of the world's population lack access to even basic sanitation. In 2002, atarget was set by all governments to halve the proportion of people without access to sanitation by 2015, but at current rates of progress this global target will not be met and in sub-Saharan Africa it will not be reached until 2076.
Despite strong evidence that it is the single most cost-effective health intervention sanitation remains largely absent in national development plans and donor aid strategies.
Low political priority plays out in chronic under-investment and yet tackling the sanitation crisis would accelerate progress towards the health, education and economic goals to reduce poverty and strengthen existing investments in these other sectors. Without investment in sanitation the realisation of other poverty reduction targets is unlikely.
History demonstrates that sanitation is a powerful catalyst for public health improvements and development gains. In Europe and North America, improvements in sanitation enabled unprecedented reductions in child mortality in the twentieth century, a pattern that has been seen more recently across three East Asian developmental states.
Oliver continues, "The neglect of the sanitation sector must end. Access to sanitation is a basic human right and must be urgently re-examined by policy makers across the world. It is interlinked and interdependent with other essential sectors, such as health and education, and underpins all development efforts."
|
About us
