The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 | Page 36

INGENIEUR

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Yet by the end of 2010, 783 million people still lacked
access to improved water sources and over 2.5 billion
people did not have access to basic sanitation.

Improved management of water, sanitation
and hygiene, is a critical component of the sevenpoint strategy agreed by WHO and UNICEF for
comprehensive diarrhoea control, which includes
promotion of hand washing with soap, household
water treatment and safe storage and communitywide sanitation promotion.
International Agreements and Relevant
Strategies
Target 7C of the MDGs calls for reducing by half
the proportion of people without sustainable
access to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation
by 2015. There is an unequivocal recognition of
the importance of this target for the achievement
of other MDGs, particularly MDG 4 (reducing child
mortality), MDG 5 (improving maternal health) and
MDG 6 (combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases). Between 1990 and 2010 over two
billion people gained access to improved sources
of drinking-water and 1.8 billion gained access
to improved sanitation. Yet by the end of 2010,
783 million people still lacked access to improved
water sources and over 2.5 billion people did not
have access to basic sanitation. Furthermore, the
safety of even improved drinking-water sources
is highly variable and in a substantial number of
cases does not protect health.
The commitment to meet MDG Target 7C
and the right to safe and affordable drinking-water
and basic sanitation for all was reaffirmed in the
outcome document, “The Future We Want” of the
Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development. It recognized the central role of water
in sustainable development as it is closely related
to a number of critical global challenges, including
the need to improve water quality and wastewater
management, including water reuse. Accordingly,
WHO is contributing to UN post-2015 Development
Agenda with the development of drinking-water,
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VOL 57 JANUARY-MARCH 2014
VOL 55 JUNE 2013

sanitation and hygiene targets and indicators, a
process which pays increased attention to water
quality aspects.
Harmonized Risk Assessment and Management
While the strategy considers all routes of
exposure relevant to water-related diseases,
and the full spectra of microbial, chem X