Nearly two-thirds of Africans lack access to Proper Sanitation by WHO / UNICEF 1:43pm 21st Mar, 2008   20 March 2008    Over 60 per cent of Africans lack access to a proper toilet, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ahead of World Water Day – observed on 22 March – whose 2008 theme is “Sanitation Matters.”    The Day aims to raise awareness to the plight of 2.6 billion people worldwide who live without toilets in their homes and are therefore vulnerable to numerous health risks.    Contamination of water, soil and food results from the human contact with the bacteria, viruses and parasites, which in turn cause diarrhoea, the second largest killer of children in developing countries.    “Sanitation is a cornerstone of public health,” said Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. “Improved sanitation contributes enormously to human health and wellbeing, especially for girls and women.”    Of the 2.6 billion people without toilets in their homes, nearly 1 billion of them are children. The two agencies approximate that 1.2 billion people gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2004, but at the current rate, 2.4 billion people will still be without basic sanitation in 2015.    “The absence of adequate sanitation has a serious impact on health and social development, especially for children,” Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director, pointed out.    She noted that enhanced support for improving sanitation will save lives and speed up progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty objectives with a target date of 2015.    Pollution generated by sewage, much of which ends up in coastal waters, leads an economic loss of $16 billion annually and is estimated to cause four million lost “man-years” yearly in terms of human ill-health, said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in a message for the Day.    “In many developed countries, part of the answer over the past half century has been found in ever more sophisticated, multi-million dollar water treatment works.”    But as projects such as one at the Shimo la Tewa jail in Mombasa, a city on the Kenyan coast, highlight that there are less costly solutions to the problem that are beneficial for other reasons, Mr. Steiner noted.    In this project, inmates work with nature to neutralize human wastes by using wetland-filtered water, called “black wastewater,” for irrigation and fish farming, providing a source of protein which can be consumed or sold to local markets.    Additionally, this wastewater – containing high concentrations of human waste – will also be used to produced biogas, which can be serve as fuel for cooking, heating and lighting. This could slash the costs of the 4,000-person prison and curb emissions.    The scheme in Mombasa, which is also expected to help wildlife such as birds and marine organisms, has a price tag of $25 per person served, which is significantly less than projects in developed countries, the Executive Director said.    “It is hoped that the lessons learn can be applied to other parts of the world so that the multiple challenges of sanitation and pollution can, in part, be viewed through a nature-based lens,” he observed.    “Working with nature rather than against it is part of that intelligent decision-making that may prove a faster, more cost-effective and more economically attractive way of achieving local and international health and poverty goals.”    Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on World Water Day, to be observed on 22 March.    This year, World Water Day coincides with the International Year of Sanitation, challenging us to spur action on a crisis affecting more than one out of three people on the planet.    Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of the abysmal sanitation conditions endured by some 2.6 billion people globally. That adds up to an unconscionable 1.5 million young lives cut short by a cause we know well how to prevent.    Poor sanitation combines with a lack of safe drinking water and inadequate hygiene to contribute to the terrible global death toll. Those who survive face diminished chances of living a healthy and productive existence. Children, especially girls, are forced to stay out of school, while hygiene-related diseases keep adults from engaging in productive work.    Leaders who adopted the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 envisioned halving the proportion of people living without access to basic sanitation by the year 2015 -- but we are nowhere near on pace to achieve that Goal. Experts predict that, by 2015, 2.1 billion people will still lack basic sanitation. At the present rate, sub-Saharan Africa will not reach the target until 2076.    While there have been advances, progress is hampered by population growth, widespread poverty, insufficient investments to address the problem and the biggest culprit: a lack of political will.    With the right resolve, there are many steps that members of the international community can take. The Commission on Sustainable Development in 2005 outlined a series of measures aimed at securing meaningful progress, holding Governments of affected countries primarily responsible. It also called for international support through a conducive policy environment, financial resources and the transfer of technology to countries in need.    If we take up the challenge, the positive impact will reverberate far beyond better access to clean water. Every dollar invested in water and sanitation yields an estimated seven dollars worth of productive activity. And that comes on top of the immeasurable gains in cutting poverty, improving health and raising living standards.    World Water Day offers a chance to spotlight these issues, but this year, let us go beyond raising awareness -- let us press for action to make a measurable difference in people’s lives. Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item