World Health Organization
Water Contamination
Water and Sanitation is one of the most important parts of public health. When everybody in the world has access to clean drinking water we will fight many diseases. More than 17% of the globe lack access to improved water sources. More than half of the globe has access to drinking water. Two-thirds of the 17% that have no access to improved water live in Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa more than 42% have no access to clean water. One major problem is that between 2002 and 2015 the world’s population will increase by 74.8 million people each year. This will exacerbate the problem. By 2025, two thirds of the world will be living under water stressed conditions.
About 10% of the diseases in the world could be prevented by cleaner water;. Many burdens come from bad water quality. This includes diarrhea, Malaria, Hepatitis A, Schistosomiasis, Trachoma, and Japanese encephalitis, Fluorosis. 1.4 million children die from diarrhea each year. But 88% of those deaths are from bad water quality. Half a million deaths from malaria can be prevented from cleaner water.