Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/813414
W EEKLY EDITION APRIL 19, 2017 New WHO Report: Two Billion People Drinking Contaminated Water Late last week the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report which stated that two billion people currently rely on contaminated water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sanita tion. The United Nations - Water team made the revelation in a document published April 13 on behalf of UN - Water. Here are some additional highlights: • Many countries will not meet global aspirations of universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation unless steps are taken to use financial resources more efficiently. • Contaminated drinking water is estimated to cause more than 500,000 diarrheal deaths each year. • Contaminated water is also a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma. • Countries with the worst water have increased their budgets for water, sanitation and hygiene at an annual average r ate of 4.9 per cent over the last three years. • However, 80 per cent of countries report that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) financing is still insufficient to meet nationally determined targets for these services. • In many developing countries, curren t national coverage targets are based on achieving access to basic infrastructure. • Planned investments have yet to take into account the much more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals targets, which aim for universal access to safely managed water and s anitation services by 2030. • Water and sanitation official development assistance disbursements increased from USD 6.3 to USD 7.4 billion from 2012 to 2015. Safe drinking water and sanitation are crucial to human welfare. When both are present, they suppor t physical well - being and livelihoods and help to create healthy environments. The consumption of unsafe water impairs human health through illnesses s uch as diarrhea, and untreated sewage can contaminate drinking - water supplies and the environment, creati ng a heavy burden on communities. In recent years, much progress has been made in increasing access to drinking water and sanitation, but far too many people l ack access to safe, sustainable water supply and sanitation services globally. In 2015, the WHO /UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) estimated that 660 million people do not have access to improved drinking - water sources, and over 2.4 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation. The new document issued last week updated these number s. Known as the Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking - Water (GLAAS), it is a periodic report that provides a global update on the policy frameworks, institutional arrangements, human resource base, and international and national finance streams in support of sanitation and drinking water. The full report is available for download here. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254999/1/9789241512190 - eng.pdf?ua=1 In furtherance of its vision of "A world in which clean and safe sanitation is accessible to all," the PSAI is working with d ozens of organizations from nearly 30 countries around the world to develop new standards for nonsewered waste systems through its relationships with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Standards Organization (ISO). These standards, together with the efforts of numerous governments, non - governmental organizations and charities around the world, are a imed at providing universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2030. PAGE 6