Sanitation as a Key to Global Health: Voices from the Field
Date
2010
Authors
Benidickson, Jamie
Kairu, Edward
Karanja, Diana
Karapetov, Alexander
Karanjia, Delna
Panesar, Jespal
Sandher, Mandip Kaur
Mulligan, Kate
Vine, Michelle
Schuster Wallace, Corinne
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)
ORCID
Type
Technical Report
Degree Level
Abstract
It is very clear that water-related disease is responsible for a significant proportion of the global burden of illness. It is equally clear that, while there is significant progress towards the Millennium Development Goal target for drinking water, sanitation is falling woefully short of the target. Provisioning of adequate sanitation has not managed to keep up with population growth and the aggregate number of unserved people has increased over the past 2 years. Projections by the United Nations show that the world will miss the latter target by almost a billion people. The international community needs to wake up to this reality and its ramifications for human development.
Not only is sanitation critical for dignity and health, it is the most basic form of source water protection – without controlling inputs of raw sewage into water bodies, drinking water treatment processes have to be unnecessarily more effective and water-based economic activities are compromised. This realisation is nothing new – indeed, it was recognised in England at the turn of the 19th century. In addition, sanitation is a critical component in striving for global equity and poverty reduction.
What is new, however, is the realisation that a focus on drinking water alone does not necessarily result in improved access to sanitation. Indeed, given the social taboos around the subject of bodily wastes, sanitation has been sidelined, both as a topic of conversation and an investment priority. This is gradually changing; the UN International Year of Sanitation, 2008, playing a significant role. This is not to say that sanitation can be dealt with as a stand-alone issue. Indeed, disease transmission pathways demand that sanitation, hygiene and drinking water must all be dealt with to have impacts upon water-related diseases. However, each needs to be accorded adequate investment in terms of education, capacity and financing.
Access to sanitation does not automatically equate to use and change in behaviour. Therefore, education, empowerment and community-participation are equally critical, as evidenced by the success of community-led total sanitation. When coupled with national government support and programming, this can make significant inroads as, for example, in Bangladesh.
In real terms, the commitment to provide sanitation to all does not have a huge price tag, especially when compared with the recent bailout funds mobilized to overcome the global economic crisis. Indeed, a commitment could and should be made to 100% coverage by 2025, at an annual cost of 0.002% of GDP from donor countries. However, there is a need for smart investment of these funds – initiatives that develop the market at the bottom of the pyramid and initiatives that facilitate local business development and entrepreneurism. It is not simply a question of sanitation provisioning, but strengthening the local economy.
There is a moral, civil, political and economic need to bring adequate sanitation to the global population – adequate for human health and adequate for ecosystem integrity.
Dr. Zafar Adeel
Chair UN-Water
Director UNU-INWEH
Description
CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo/
Keywords
water-related disease, Millennium Development Goal (MDG), global equity, global equity, funds mobilization, ecosystem integrity
Citation
UNU-INWEH (2010) Sanitation as a Key to Global Health: Voices from the Field. United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH). ISBN: 9280860127