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 07 September 2008 02:16 BST

UN: Billions with risky sanitation

Friday, 18 Jul 2008 08:15
Less than a billion lack access to an improved water source
Over 2.5 billion people live in potentially fatal unsanitary conditions, according to the World Health Organisation and Unicef.

Their report also warns that nearly 1.2 billion people practice open defecation, the riskiest sanitary practice of all.

Poor sanitation poses a serious risk to health and children's survival as food and water contaminated with faeces is directly linked to diarrhoeal disease, one of the biggest killers of infants under the age of five.

A clean environment is very difficult to ensure if open defecation is practised, even by a minority of the population.

The report also reveals that the number of people worldwide who lack access to an improved drinking water source has fallen below one billion for the first time since records began in 1990.

At present 87 per cent of the world population has access to improved drinking water sources.

"At current trends, the world will fall short of the Millennium sanitation target by more than 700 million people," said Ann Veneman, Unicef executive director.

"Without dramatic improvements, much will be lost."

WHO director general Margaret Chan added: "We have today a full menu of low-cost technical options for the provision of sanitation in most settings.

"More and more governments are determined to improve health by bringing water and sanitation to their poorest populations. If we want to break the stranglehold of poverty, and reap the multiple benefits for health, we must address water and sanitation."
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