UNICEF: Majority of global child deaths caused by contaminated water

MANILA, Philippines – Almost 90 percent of child deaths are due to diarrhoeal diseases caused by contaminated water, lack of sanitation or inadequate hygience, the UNICEF reported today as the globe celebrates World Water Day.

The reported deaths in 2011 reached 760,000, down from 1.2 million per year in 2000. But that is still too many, UNICEF says, which is why it is urging governments, civil society and ordinary citizens to remember that behind the numbers are the faces of children.

Globally, an estimated 2,000 children under the age of five die every day from diarrhoeal diseases and of these some 1,800 deaths are linked to water, sanitation and hygiene.

“Sometimes we focus so much on the big numbers, that we fail to see the human tragedies that underlie each statistic,” says Sanjay Wijesekera, global head of UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programme.

“If 90 school buses filled with kindergartners were to crash every day, with no survivors, the world would take notice. But this is precisely what happens every single day because of poor water, sanitation and hygiene.”

UNICEF child mortality data show that about half of under-five deaths occur in only five countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Pakistan and China. Two countries –  India (24 per cent) and Nigeria (11 per cent) – together account for more than a third of all under-five deaths. These same countries also have significant populations without improved water and sanitation.

Of the 783 million people worldwide without improved drinking water, there are 119 million in China; 97 million in India; 66 million in Nigeria; 36 million in DRC; and 15 million in Pakistan.

The figures for sanitation are even bleaker. Those without improved sanitation in these countries are: India 814 million; China 477 million; Nigeria 109 million; Pakistan 91 million; and DRC 50 million. Improvements in water and sanitation would greatly contribute to a reduction in child mortality in these counties.

Locally, an estimated 26% of Filipinos do not have improved sanitation, translating to more than 24 million people (UNICEF WHO Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2012 Update). 

Almost 8 million Filipinos are openly defecating, which is the third highest total in the Asia Pacific Region.

“Under the leadership of the Department of Health, the Philippines has made significant advances in sanitation over the last 20 years, however we are in jeopardy of not reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goal on Sanitation because the poorest 20% of the population is sliding,” says Tim Grieve, Chief of Water, Sanitation & Hygiene in UNICEF Philippines.

Over the last 20 years, the poorest 20% of the rural population went from 36% open defecation to a staggering 48% open defecation. Poor sanitation and poverty go hand in hand, and the rural poor are four times more likely to practice open defecation than in urban areas.   Sanitation coverage in poor provinces such as Masbate and Maguindanao is as low as 38% and 30% respectively (FIES 2009).

He adds, “UNICEF would like to take the opportunity of World Water Day to advocate to National Government Agencies, Local Government Units, private sector and civil society organisations to take collective action and increase funding for greater sanitation coverage in poor areas of the Philippines - an important step in achieving the Millennium Development Goal on Sanitation and breaking the cycle of poverty.”

Wijesekera says the progress made since 1990 shows that with the political will, with investment, with a focus on equity and on reaching those hardest to reach, every child should be able to get access to improved drinking water and sanitation, perhaps within this generation.