Health & Disease
- Over 80% of the disease in developing countries is related to poor drinking water and sanitation. (WHO)
- Half of the people in the world lack access to any kind of decent sanitation. (UNICEF)
- Half of the world’s hospital beds, at any point, are occupied by people suffering from diseases associated with poor water, sanitation and hygiene. (UNDP)
- Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea. (WHO/UNICEF)
- Providing access to clean water without any other medical intervention, could save 2 million lives a year.
- Every day 4,500 children under the age of 5 die from water-related illnesses. (WHO)
- The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns. (UNDP)
- Access to water, sanitation and hygiene reduces the number of deaths caused by diarrheal diseases by an average of 65%. (WHO)
- Approximately 443 million days of school each year are missed due to water-related illnesses. (UNDP)
- Twelve million people die each year from lack of safe drinking water, including more than 3 million who die from waterborne diseases. (WHO/UNICEF)