Saving Lives through Global Safe Water

nsafe water is a global public health threat, placing persons at risk for a host of diarrheal and other diseases as well as chemical intoxication. Unsanitary water has particularly devastating effects on young children in the developing world. Each year, >2 million persons, mostly children <5 years of age, die of diarrheal disease (1,2). For children in this age group, diarrheal disease accounted for 17% of all deaths from 2000 to 2003 (3), ranking third among causes of death, after neonatal causes and acute respiratory infections. Severe, prolonged diarrheal disease can also lead to malnutrition and impaired physical and cognitive development (4). Nearly 90% of diarrhea-related deaths have been attributed to unsafe or inadequate water supplies and sanitation (5)—conditions affecting a large part of the world's population. An estimated 1.1 billion persons (one sixth of the world's population) lack access to clean water and 2.6 billion to adequate sanitation (5). At the 2000 United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit, member states adopted a set of 8 goals and related targets and indicators aimed at helping end human poverty and its ramifications (6). Among these Millennium Development Goals is a call to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of persons without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Although some progress has been made, much remains to be done. Toward this end, in March 2005, the UN launched the " International Decade for Action: Water for Life 2005–2015. " A UN Millennium Project Task Force has identified 5 guiding principles and 10 actions needed to intensify efforts to meet the targets (7,8). Building on lessons learned from the previous International Drinking Water and Sanitation Decade during the 1980s will also be an important part of this process. Success in reaching these targets will help achieve the other 7 Millennium Development Goals, increase workforce productivity, and substantially reduce the amount of time that women and children spend collecting and storing water, which will free them to pursue other productive and educational activities. Moreover, reaching these goals will be an important step toward breaking the cycle of poverty and disease. A collaborative, interdisciplinary effort to ensure global access to safe water, basic sanitation, and improved hygiene is the foundation for ending this cycle. In addition to mobilizing political will among national leaders and heads of international agencies, this effort will require sustained involvement and commitment from a broad range of public …