Malteser International promotes concepts to prevent illness and deaths due to lack of sanitation and poor access to safe drinking water

Diarrhoeal diseases are the most common health problems and causes of death worldwide. 4.4 billion people suffer from diarrhoea every year (Worldbank, 2003), and the WHO estimate that 1.8 million people die from it each year (WHO, 2004). This includes 4,000 children under five years of age who die from diarrhoea every day.

The underlying causes are well known. To date there are 2.6 billion people worldwide who lack basic sanitation and 1.1 billion who do not have access to safe drinking water. The transmission of diarrhoeal and water related diseases are directly linked to inadequate access to water and hygiene practices.

Diseases can be transmitted from the host through water, food and direct contact with human waste. The faecal-oral transmission of disease is typical for waterborne diseases.

However there are also a number of vector-borne diseases related to poor water supply and sanitation.

Factors that contribute to a higher risk of infection include substandard and crowded living conditions in slums or camp situations. Poverty is directly linked to poor access to drinking water and sanitation facilities.

Based on this reality, targets to improve access to water, sanitation, hygiene, the reduction of under-five-mortality and poverty reduction have been set as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Those with poor access to water, who suffer from hunger and who live on one or two US$ per day are the same population.

Despite the improvements already achieved during the first Water For Life Decade there is still a significant gap in drinking water coverage between rural (899 million people) and urban (170 million people) communities (WHO, 2004).

Alarmingly, this constitutes 15% of the global population.

Diseases related to the lack of drinking water, hygiene and sanitation can be prevented by simple, well known and well established concepts.

For example, handwashing with soap is effective in reducing the incidence of such diseases by 50%. Safe storage of human waste in latrines is also without a doubt one of the important building blocks in reducing the risk of contamination and transmission.

But the availability of sanitation facilities cannot stand alone - people must decide that this is advantageous and a benefit for their health, and an improvement for their communities.

Traditional habits, ignorance, misinformation and lack of knowledge can hamper acceptance and willingness to change attitudes and practice. There is an urgent need to educate and promote well known, basic concepts to improve hygiene in the communities of developing countries.

The introduction of new technologies, appropriate in the context and living environment of the communities, needs to be discussed, offered and planned in a participatory manner.

An individual's or community's ownership and involvement in the decision making process are preconditions for sustainable improvement.

A key concept is household water treatment and storage (HWTS), and has been strongly promoted by the WHO since 2003. The objective of the initiative is clear:

The commitment of the initiative is to contribute to a significant reduction in waterborne disease, especially among vulnerable populations, by promoting household water treatment and safe storage as a key component of water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

Malteser International is committed to contribute to better health, and dignified living conditions by providing access to drinking water, sanitation, and health promotion for people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty.

Look at Malteser International's new video about water, sanitation in Sri Lanka: http://www.malteser.de/61.Malteser_International/en/61.11.Downloads/61.11.05.Video/Video.htm

You can also download our broshure "From safe water and sanitation to good helth" about Malteser International's WASH-projects in Asia here: http://www.malteser.de/61.Malteser_International/61.16.Downloads/61.16.02.Publikationen/WASH_Brochure.pdf