Water Facts
1 in 9 people world wide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water.i
443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases
In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.
Girls under the age of 15 are twice as likely as boys to be the family member responsible for fetching water.
An estimated 801,000 children younger than 5 years of age perish from diarrhea each year, mostly in developing countries. This amounts to 11% of the 7.6 million deaths of children under the age of five and means that about 2,200 children are dying every day as a result of diarrheal diseases.ii
Worldwide, millions of people are infected with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), many of which are water and/or hygiene-related, such as Guinea Worm Disease, Buruli Ulcer, Trachoma, and Schistosomiasis. These diseases are most often found in places with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and insufficient hygiene practices.iii iv
Water and sanitation interventions are cost effective across all world regions. These interventions were demonstrated to produce economic benefits ranging from US$ 5 to US$ 46 per US$ 1 invested.v
An improved water source is defined as water that is supplied through a household connection, public standpipe, borehole well, protected dug well, protected spring, or rainwater collection.vi
i. https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/water_stats
ii. Liu L, Johnson HL, Cousens S, Perin J, Scott S, Lawn JE, Rudan I, Campbell H, Cibulskis R, Li M, Mathers C, Black RE; Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group of WHO and UNICEF. Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet. 2012 Jun 9;379(9832):2151-61.
iii. World Health Organization. Neglected Tropical Diseases, Hidden Successes, Emerging Opportunities.[PDF - 52 pages]
iv. Hotez PJ, Molyneux DH, Fenwick A, Ottesen E, Ehrlich Sachs S, Sachs JD. Incorporating a rapid-impact package for neglected tropical diseases with programs for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria. PLoS Med 2006;3(5):e102.
v. Hutton G, Haller L , Bartram J. 2007. Global cost-benefit analysis of water supply and sanitation interventions. J Water Health 2007:5.4;481-502
vi. http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html