WaterAid responds to the Global Nutrition Report 2018

Posted by
Lisa Martin
on
29 November 2018
In
Children
A group of 8-year-old children and one 9-year-old girl (centre) stand underneath a chalk mark indicating the global average height for their age at a primary school, most of the children in the picture measure the same height as a healthy 5-year-old, in Ooti, Karnataka State, India, September 2016
Image: WaterAid/Ronny Sen

In response to the Global Nutrition Report 2018 launched this morning, Megan Wilson-Jones, Senior Policy Analyst for Health and Hygiene for WaterAid said: 

“The new Global Nutrition Report sheds a light on the ongoing crisis of malnutrition in all its forms globally and the urgent need for action. 

“Progress and lasting change are not happening fast enough with 150.8 million children in the world today being stunted, 50.5 million children wasted, and with anaemia rates remaining stubbornly high. Most countries are still way off-track in meeting the World Health Assembly targets for nutrition. 

“Most of these children are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where we know access to water and sanitation is also most difficult. Undernutrition is closely linked to diarrhoea and other infections, which can often be prevented with clean water, good sanitation and good hygiene practices. Estimates show that a quarter of stunting is attributed to five or more episodes of diarrhoea during the first two years of life. We know that we cannot address undernutrition without addressing this crisis too: 289,000 children die of diarrhoea directly linked to dirty water and poor sanitation each year, and those who survive may have their growth, development and life chances irreversibly affected.”

ENDS

For more details please contact: 

Lisa Martin, [email protected], 020 7793 4524 or Carolynne Wheeler, [email protected], 020 7793 4485

Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552
or email [email protected].

Notes to Editors:

WaterAid

WaterAid’s vision is of a world where everyone has access to clean water and sanitation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 25.8 million people with clean water and 25.1 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org/uk, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.

  • 844 million people in the world – one in nine – do not have clean water close to home.[1]

  • 2.3 billion people in the world – almost one in three – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]

  • Around 289,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]

  • Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]

  • Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]

  • To find out if countries are keeping their promises on water and sanitation, see the online database www.WASHwatch.org

 

[1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[2] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines

[3] washwatch.org

[4] World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage

[5] www.wateraid.org/uk