World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that improving water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent at least 9.1% of the global burden of disease and 6.3% of all deaths. Providing safe, reliable, piped-in water to every household is an essential goal, yielding optimal health gains while contributing to the targets for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for poverty reduction, nutrition, childhood survival, school attendance, gender equity and environmental sustainability.

This document contains three sources of information: a literature review, a set of interviews with key informants, and a set of case studies. The focus of this document is on situations where long-term or chronic problems of inadequate access to safe water/sanitation, coupled with poor hygiene practices, expose people to health risks. It also focuses on situations where a water pollution incident gives rise to the risk of adverse health impacts on the population.