While notable improvements have been made, nearly 750 million people—half in sub-Saharan Africa and half in Asia—still lack access to clean drinking water, a new report released by WHO and UNICEF has concluded.
While the figures are grim, there has been a considerable amount of progress over the past two decades in working toward universal access to basic drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Since 1990, 2.3 billion people have gained access to improved sources of drinking water. The percentage of people defecating in the open dropped 21 percent from 1.3 billion people in 1990 to 1 billion in 2012.
What the report also found, though, is that improved access to sanitation and clean drinking water also often widens the growing divide between the rich and poor, since it"s usually the impoverished and marginalized groups. "Interventions that do not have an equity focus may exacerbate (使恶化) inequality by failing to reach the most disadvantaged subgroups," the report noted. "Closing these gaps requires explicit consideration of those who are being left behind."
The availability of clean water is a matter of life or death, particularly for vulnerable children. Every 21 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease, according to Water.org. And that"s actually a marked improvement compared to recent years. Five years ago, 1,656 more children died each day from such diseases as dysentery (痢疾), dehydration (脱水), cholera and diarrhea (腹泻). Still, diarrhea—which is both prable and treatable—remains the second leading cause of death among children under 5, according to WHO.
The issue isn"t just a lack of resources, but also a lack of awareness. According to the report, uneducated children are more likely to defecate in the open.
However, the report also offered up some supporting news with regard to the UN"s Millennium Development Goals. Fifty-six countries have already halved the proportion of the population that lacks access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
Advocates agree that clean water and sanitation play a critical role not just in improving overall health, but also in putting an end to global poverty.
"There is a growing consensus that they should focus on universal access to safe water and sanitation as a part of the push to end extreme poverty by 2030," Tom Slaymaker, WaterAid"s deputy head of policy, told Thomson Reuters Foundation. "The only way in which we are going to get there is by having a very serious commitment and focus on reducing inequalities." What does the new report released by WHO and UNICEF reveal