World Health Organization pushes nations for clean water and sanitation
The World Health Organization reported that accelerated action is needed to ensure safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to prevent devasting impacts on the health of millions of people.
“We are facing an urgent crisis: poor access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene claim millions of lives each year, while the increasing frequency and climate-related extreme weather events could hamper the delivery of safe WASH functions service,†said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General.
While 45% of countries are on track to achieve their nationally-defined-water coverage target, only 25 percent of countries are on track to achieve their national sanitation target.
The findings come from the WHO and UN-Water’s Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking -Water (GLAAS) report that shows acceleration is needed in many countries to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Gold water and sanitation for all of 2030.
The dire consequences of climate change and extreme weather events draw more attention to these issues.