Around 2 billion more people need access to basic sanitation by 2015

Geneva/New York, 3 June 05 (WAM)-- Basic sanitation must reach 138 million more people every year through 2015 - close to 2 billion in total - to bring the world on track to halve the proportion of people living without safe water and basic sanitation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF warn in a new report.

Meeting this Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target would cost US $11.3 billion per year, a minimal investment compared with the potential to reduce human illnesses and death and invigorate economies.

Young children suffer disproportionately without safe water and sanitation services. Every year, 1.9 million children under five die from diarrhoeal diseases in the world's poorest countries - over 5000 children each day.

Poor water and sanitation, according to the report, contribute to almost 90 per cent of these deaths (1.6 million). A baby born in Sub-Saharan Africa is five hundred times more likely to die from diarrhoeal disease than a baby in the developed world.

Diarrhoea can lead to severe malnutrition, which contributes to six million child deaths every year - more than half the global tollof child mortality.

"Access to basic sanitation and adequate drinking water makes people healthier and more economically and socially productive," said Dr LEE Jong-wook, WHO Director-General. "Yet we are not seeing nearly enough money invested in this primary building block of development." "While the world is on track to meet its safe water targets, progresson basic sanitation, in terms of the number of people who need to gainaccess to sanitation facilities each year for the first time, needs toaccelerate by at least 58 per cent between now and 2015 to meet the Millennium target," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.

Meeting the target by 2015 would inject an extra US$ 84 billion peryear into developing economies - money saved by averted deaths, lowerhealthcare costs and productivity gains, says the new report, called Waterfor Life - Making it Happen, released ahead of World Environment Day on 5 June. The report analyzes essential investments and strategies toincrease access to water and sanitation between now and the MDG deadlineyear of 2015.

The report finds that every dollar invested in improved water suppliesand basic toilets pays for itself many times over. Returns range fromUS $3 to US $34, depending on the type of investment and the country.

Less illness means less burden on health systems and more time spent atwork or in school. Women and girls can have their lives transformed bybetter water and sanitation services. For example, an accessible watersource liberates them from the hours often spent collecting water, andadequate school toilets make it more likely that girls will attend classes.

The sanitation situation is particularly acute in South Asia and Sub-SaharanAfrica. South Asia needs to reach 42 million additional people with sanitationservices every year to reach the target. In sub-Saharan Africa, whereonly 36 per cent of the population have access to a basic toilet, 27 millionpeople every year need expanded services. So far, access to sanitationin the region has increased by just 4 per cent since 1990.

Investing in water and sanitation services, the report says, is alsoa key element in improving urban living conditions, spurring rural developmentand reducing future costs associated with pollution, poor water qualityand waste management.

Planning to meet these major environmental challenges now is the bestplatform for prosperous and pleasant future living spaces, says Dr. KerstinLeitner, WHO Assistant Director-General for Sustainable Development andHealthy Environments.

"We must ensure that access to drinking water and sanitation becomes amaster component in development planning," she said. "Adequate water andsanitation infrastructure is the only means possible of supporting socially,economically and environmentally sustainable development of urban areas." The report recommends five key complementary actions to reach the waterand sanitation MDG over the next ten years (the International Decade forAction on Water for Life): meeting basic sanitation demand, significantlyincreasing access to safe drinking water, teaching good hygiene in homesand schools, promoting household water treatment and safe storage, andensuring more health for the money by providing water and sanitation systemstogether.

"Failure to meet these simple needs is costing many children theirlives," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. "An investmentin safe water and sanitation for homes and schools can be a key factorin reducing child mortality."