- World Water Day 2009 - Shared Waters, Shared Opportunities
- Home Water Treatment - Global household water treatment and safe water storage.
- Cholera - Learn about this life threatening disease.
Global access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education can reduce illness and death from disease, leading to improved health, poverty reduction, and socio-economic development.
Many countries are challenged in providing safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for their entire populations, leaving people at risk for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related diseases.
Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Topics
- Community Systems
- Water Safety Plans,
- Assessment and Development...
- Sanitation & Hygiene
- Toilets & Latrines,
- Hygiene,
- Sewer & Wastewater...
- Statistics
- Basic Information,
- Statistics,
- References...
- CDC Programs & Projects
- Global WASH CDC Programs,
- Global WASH CDC Projects...
- Household Treatment
- Safe Water System,
- Safe Storage...
- Travelers' Health
- Safe Drinking & Recreational Water,
- Injury & Illness...
- Diseases & Contaminants
- Waterborne,
- Sanitation and Hygiene-related...
- Resources
- Websites,
- Publications...
Global Water Fast Facts
- Worldwide, 1.1 billion people do not have access to an improved water source* (1). Many more obtain their drinking water from improved, but microbiologically unsafe, sources.
- An estimated 2.6 billion people — half of the developing world — lack access to adequate sanitation (almost 40% of the world’s population) (2,3).
- Water-related diseases are the most common cause of illness and death among the poor of developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, 1.6 million deaths per year can be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and insufficient hygiene (4).
- Worldwide, 149 countries and territories are affected by at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD) (5).
- Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) is an extremely painful parasitic infection spread through contaminated drinking water. GWD is characterized by thread-like worms slowly emerging from the human body through blisters. Infection occurs among people living in impoverished communities in remote parts of Africa that do not have safe water to drink. In 2007, over 9,500 cases of Guinea Worm Disease were reported. Most of those cases were from Sudan (61%) and Ghana (35%) (6).
- Worldwide, soil-transmitted helminths infect more than one billion people due to a lack of adequate sanitation (7).
- Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness and results from poor hygiene and sanitation. Approximately 41 million people suffer from active trachoma and nearly 10 million people are visually impaired or irreversibly blind as a result of trachoma (8). Trachoma infection can be prevented through increased facial cleanliness with soap and clean water, and improved sanitation.
Cholera: A Lion in Our Village
Over a billion people worldwide lack access to safe water, according to the World Health Organization. Cholera is a waterborne disease resulting from inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Despite efforts to keep its spread under control, cholera remains a serious disease in many parts of the world.
A New England Journal of Medicine article co-authored by CDC Scientist Dr. Eric D. Mintz, and Dr. Richard L. Guerrant, Director for the Center for Global Health at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, examines some of the factors that contribute to the high incidence and mortality rates of cholera in Africa, and some of the prevention and control measures currently available to address the alarming rise of cholera cases and deaths.
- Read "A Lion in Our Village—The Unconscionable Tragedy of Cholera in Africa" (New England Journal of Medicine)
- View slideshow from "A Lion in Our Village—The Unconscionable Tragedy of Cholera in Africa" (New England Journal of Medicine)
1. World Health Organization. Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target: A Mid-Term Assessment of Progress. Available at http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2004/en/index.html.
2. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. International Year of Sanitation: Sanitation is Vital for Human Health. Available at http://esa.un.org/iys/health.shtml.
3. U.S. Census Bureau. International Programs Center: Population Clocks. Available at http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/.
4. UN Millennium Project. Health, Dignity, and Development: What Will it Take? Available at http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/WaterComplete-lowres.pdf.
5. World Health Organization. Neglected Tropical Diseases, Hidden Successes, Emerging Opportunities. Available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2006/WHO_CDS_NTD_2006.2_eng.pdf.
6. The Carter Center. Distribution by Country of 9,570 Cases of Dracunculiasis Reported During 2007. Available at http://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/guinea_worm/guinea_worm_cases_country_2007.pdf.
7. World Health Organization. Soil-Transmitted Helminths. Available at http://www.who.int/intestinal_worms/en/index.html.
8. International Trachoma Initiative. What is Trachoma? Available at http://www.trachoma.org/core/sub.php?cat=trachoma&id=trachoma.
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