Islamabad, June 12, 2006 -- The
United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and the Pakistan Environmental Protection
Agency (PAK-EPA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding
to improve the health Pakistanis by providing safe,
clean drinking water. Mr. Sharif Ahmed Khan, Secretary,
Ministry of Environment, and Dr. Jonathan Addleton,
USAID Mission Director, signed the MOU at a ceremony
at the Ministry of Environment.
The government of Pakistan, under the Clean Drinking
Water Initiative (CDWI), will install 6,000 water
filter plants nationwide to ensure clean drinking
water in every union council. USAID’s safe drinking
water and hygiene promotion project will complement
Pakistan’s provision of clean water with a national
hygiene and sanitation promotion campaign and targeted
activities in 31 districts/agencies, including eight
earthquake affected districts. The population in the
targeted areas is approximately 30 million people.
The CDWI will improve the health and well-being of
millions of Pakistanis without access to safe drinking
water. Disease caused by poor water quality is very
high in Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s National
Conservation Strategy (1992), about 40 percent of
communicable diseases in Pakistan are water-borne.
A World Health Organization (WHO) report notes that
25 to 30 percent of hospital admissions in Pakistan
are associated with water-borne bacterial and parasitic
conditions. The impact on mortality is severe. According
to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), 60 percent
of infant deaths in Pakistan are caused by water borne
diarrhea and dehydration caused by diarrhea is a major
cause of mortality among children.
The PAK-EPA, under the Ministry of Environment, has
lead responsibility for implementing the Clean Drinking
Water Initiative and will be USAID’s lead partner
for the complementary Pakistan Safe Drinking Water
and Hygiene Promotion Project.
The Memorandum of Understanding stipulates the roles
and responsibilities of the Ministry of Environment
and its partners at the national level, the roles
and responsibilities to be assumed by the local government
bodies, and USAID’s roles and responsibilities
which complement the government of Pakistan’s
CDWI.
Improved water treatment, combined with USAID promotion
of safe water handling and household management, as
well as improved hygiene and sanitation, will help
reduce the public health risks posed by an unsafe
water supply.
Through USAID, the United States is providing more
than $1.5 billion in development assistance to Pakistan
in order to improve health, education, economic growth
and governance.
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