CDC Global WASH Programs and Projects

Safe Water System

In areas where access to safe water, appropriate wastewater management, and adequate sewer systems is not feasible, certain programs, such as CDC's Safe Water System, can empower people to improve and protect the quality of their household drinking water through simple, inexpensive technologies to treat and safely store water in their homes. The intervention consists of these steps:

• Point-of-use treatment of contaminated water
• Safe water storage
• Improved hygiene
• Behavior change techniques

More information on household water treatment is available from CDC at Safe Water System (SWS) and from the World Health Organization (WHO) at Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage.

For smaller community-based organizations, technical information on developing household water treatment and safe water storage programs can be found online within the Bibliography of Point-of-Use Water Disinfection. Also available online is the document Safe Water for the Community: A Guide for Establishing a Community-Based Safe Water System Program (PDF, 660 kb, 62 pages); this guide can also be obtained in hard-copy with a CD by sending an email to safewater@cdc.gov (1).

Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program (Global WASH) at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)

Healthy communities begin with safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. Because these environmental conditions can prevent and control disease, injury, and disability, they are the building blocks for a community’s health. In fact, the underlying causes of disease anywhere on the planet are often linked closely to environmental conditions, including water, sanitation, and hygiene. Thus, to reduce the global impact of disease, it must be understood how such environmental conditions can cause—and prevent—many diseases.

In communities where water, sanitation construction, and hygiene education are feasible interventions, the Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (Global WASH) program at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) collaborates with partner organizations to improve the public health effects and sustainability of these environmental conditions. The program also provides technical assistance to support water, sanitation, and hygiene development and implementation.

Currently, the Global WASH program at NCEH:

• Evaluates the sustainability of water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions such as the Central America Water and Sanitation Sustainability Project;
• Improves access to safe drinking water through Water Safety Plans (WSPs); and
• Researches the public health impacts of sanitation programs.

More information on community water systems and water safety plans is available from CDC's Water Safety Plans and from the World Health Organization (WHO) at WSPortal: Health through Water. Technical information on developing water safety plans can be found from WHO at Water Safety Plans: Managing Drinking-Water Quality from Catchment to Consumer.

Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Dracunculiasis, more commonly known as Guinea worm disease (GWD), is a preventable waterborne disease caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. It is an extremely painful parasitic infection spread through contaminated drinking water. About 1 year after a person drinks contaminated water, thread-like worms slowly emerge from the human body through blisters on the skin. This disease affects poor communities in remote parts of Africa that do not have safe water supplies. Only 5 countries in the world still have Guinea worm disease: Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan. Currently, many organizations, including the Global 2000 program of The Carter Center, UNICEF, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO) are helping these countries eradicate the disease. Since 1986, when an estimated 3.5 million people were infected annually, the International Guinea Worm Eradication Program has reduced the number of cases by more than 99%. In 2007, less than 9,600 cases of GWD were reported worldwide. Most of those cases were from Sudan and Ghana (61% and 35% respectively) (2). All affected countries are aiming to eliminate Guinea worm disease as soon as possible.

For more information on Guinea Worm Disease, visit:

• Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program
• CDC’s Guinea Worm Disease website

1. Lantagne DS, Gallo W. Safe Water for the Community: A Guide for Establishing a Community-Based Safe Water System Program. CDC 2008; Edition 1.
2. 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 .