Tens of thousands of kids die every day from otherwise preventable sicknesses like diarrhea, e. coli, and cholera — diseases that are spurred on or exacerbated by consuming unclean water.

Worldwide, more than 884 million people globally have no safe water to drink¹.

Nearly 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation facilities. Many people resort to open defecation, which can endanger the safety of water used for drinking and personal use¹.

Large epidemics often stem from water supplies contaminated by fecal matter. The cholera outbreak in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake is believed to have started near a UN camp hosting peacekeepers from Nepal who were in Haiti for relief efforts².

The Haitian epidemic alone resulted in an 85 percent increase in the number of cholera cases worldwide³.

In low‐income countries, the impact of infectious diseases is often devastating — decreasing survival rates, and impeding opportunities for economic growth and development⁴.

Infants and children are more likely to die due to lack of access to safe water¹. Families affected by these diseases can spend the majority of their incomes on treatment for the sick family member. With already-limited resources, this can put a family into financial ruin.

In more developed countries, infectious diseases also continue to significant health and economic concerns. In the USA, among new health threats, there has been a resurgence of local dengue fever in Florida, a resurgence of pertussis in California that sickened infants too young to be vaccinated, and an outbreak of diarrheal disease caused by Salmonella‐infected eggs sold throughout the country. These disease problems, endemic, new, and resurgent, cause immense suffering and death and impose enormous financial burdens on society⁴.

"Water and Sanitation is one of the primary drivers of public health. I often refer to it as 'Health 101,' which means that once we can secure access to clean water and to adequate sanitation facilities for all people, irrespective of the difference in their living conditions, a huge battle against all kinds of diseases will be won," says Dr LEE Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organization⁵.

According to the World Health Organization, Improved water supply reduces diarrhea morbidity by between 6% to 25%, if severe outcomes are included⁵.

Clean water is possible for everyone. Sign the petition below and demand the UN dedicate more funding and resources toward providing the world and its children with clean, safe drinking water.

More on this issue:

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases at CDC, (12 March 2020), "Disease Threats and Global WASH Killers: Cholera, Typhoid, and Other Waterborne Infections."
2. Aaron Sidder, National Geographic (18 August 2016), "How Cholera Spread So Quickly Through Haiti."
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED), (2 October 2020), "Sources of Infection & Risk Factors."
4. Theodore H. Tulchinsky, MD, MPH, Elena A. Varavikova, MD, MPH, PhD, The New Public Health (2014), "Communicable Diseases."
5. World Health Organization (2004), "Water, sanitation and hygiene links to health."