Current Affairs 16th April 2017

Current Affairs 16th April 2017 - Important Points

WHO Study : Two billion people drinking contaminated water

Current Affairs 16th April 2017 - Details

WHO Study : Two billion people drinking contaminated water

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a report on 13th April 2017, Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2017, stating nearly two billion people currently using contaminated water. The revelation was made in the new report published by WHO on behalf of UN-Water.

 Key Highlights

• The report states that countries will not meet global aspirations of universal access to safe drinking-water and sanitation unless steps are taken to use financial resources more efficiently.
• Contaminated drinking-water is estimated to cause more than 500000 deaths due to diarrhoea each year.
• Contaminated water is also a major factor of several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, trachoma and schistosomiasis.
• As per the report, countries have increased their budget for water, sanitation and hygiene at an annual average rate of 4.9 percent over the last three years.
• However, 80 percent of countries report that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) financing is still insufficient to meet nationally-defined targets for WASH services.
• In many developing countries, current national coverage targets are based on achieving access to basic infrastructure.
• Planned investments have yet to take into account the much more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals targets, aiming for universal access to safely managed water and sanitation services by 2030.
• Water and sanitation official development assistance disbursements raised from USD 6.3 to USD 7.4 billion from 2012 to 2015.