Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Health
Clean water and decent sanitation. Those of us who live in developed countries probably don’t give these things a second thought. But for more than 800 million people around the globe, safe drinking water is a distant luxury. And more than a third of the world lacks adequate sanitation services.
Not having these basic amenities means lots of otherwise preventable infections. Worldwide, more than a million and a half kids under the age of five die every year from diseases that spread through poor sanitation or unsafe drinking water.
But the past decade has seen improvements. More than 1.3 billion people gained access to an improved water supply or better sanitation. That’s according to a new report on the top global health achievements in the first decade of this century, put out by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clean water and sanitation turn out to be smart financial investments, too. Every dollar spent around the world on improving water and sanitation paid back between five and 46 dollars in economic benefits. And in the larger sense, good health is priceless.
--Katherine Harmon
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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Add CommentGovernment must change the attitude of people about advantage of pure drinking water and sanitation.Government of India spend billion of rupee for provide clean water but effect is zero. Only because attitude of people is traditional .We must change this attitude.How to change attitude is difficult question.All over the world people change their attitude when circumstances change.When railway running in India all people of all caste compulsory sit same compartment automatically caste barrier were collapsed.When Kemal Pasha ordered that only prostitute must wear a Burkha all other women stopped to wearing Burkha ,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA more recent and alarming trend seems to be that private corporations (such as Nestle's) are buying regional public water resources. Water may bee too good an investment for the future. The U.S. Census Bureau expects that the world population will increase another 30% to more than 9 billion by 2050. We'll see how well the potable water supply holds up for most of humanity...
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