WaterLog

In a poll carried out by the British Medical Journal in January 2007, sanitation was voted the most important medical milestone since 1840, ranking higher than antibiotics and vaccines.  In poor countries, over 2.5 billion people do not have access to a basic toilet.  Lack of access to safe water and latrines causes 5 million deaths each year.  

Water and sanitation targets are included in the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.  Governments have pledged to halve the proportion of people in need of clean water and basic sanitation by 2015.  However, at current funding levels, under-funding for sanitation means the sanitation MDG is 90 years off target and will not be met until 2105.  The cost of missing this goal: 133 million lives.