But what about water in underdeveloped nations?

Water and Sanitation

·       An estimated 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion people are without access to safe water. (UNICEF, 2006)

·       Globally, more than 125 million children under five years of age live in households without access to an improved drinking-water source, and more than 280 million children under five live in households without access to improved sanitation facilities. (UNICEF, 2006)

·       90% of wastewater in developing countries is discharged into rivers and streams without any treatment. (UNDP, UNEP, World Bank, and the World Resources Institute, “World Resources 2000-2001”, pg. 25-26)

·       Diarrhea can be reduced by 26% when basic water, hygiene, and sanitation are supplied. (World Water Day, 2001)WATER AND DISEASE

·       4,000 children die each day as a result of water-related illnesses. (WHO 2004)

·       In the past ten years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since WWII. (WSSCC, 2004)

·       Water is implicated in 80% of all sickness and disease worldwide. 19% of deaths from infection and disease worldwide are water related and waterborne diseases contribute to nearly 4 million child deaths. (Rehydration Project, www.rehydrate.org/facts/progress_water.htm)

·       At any one time, it is estimated that half the world’s hospital beds are occupied with patients suffering from water-related diseases. (WSSC, 2004)

·       Diarrhea kills more than three million people each year and chronic diarrhea is a leading killer of people with AIDS. (USAID, 2004)

·       Major diseases transmitted by water: cholera, typhoid, bacillary dysentery, infectious hepatitis, and Giardia. (WHO, “Right to Water,” 2003)

·       Major diseases caused by lack of water: scabies, skin sepsis and ulcers, yaws, leprosy, trachoma, dysenteries. (WHO, “World Health Report” 2002)

Water and Economic Growth

·       Over 40 billion work hours are lost each year in Africa to the need to fetch drinking water. (WHO 2004)

·       Water-related illnesses cost the Indian economy 73 million working days per year. (WSSCC, 2004)

Source= Water for People http://wfp.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage