More than 2 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water

Health 16 July, 2017


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Published the 16.07.2017 at 14h16



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Nothing has made more progress in medicine and lower the human mortality that hygiene measures. This is why the united nations has set a goal of universal coverage of water needs. Access to clean water, soap and sanitary safe is essential, but far from obvious, according to a report by the world health Organization (WHO), prepared with Unicef.

According to their estimates, 2.1 billion people would still lack access to safe drinking water in their homes, which represents 30 % of the world population. They are the same two times as many (4.5 billion) does not have sanitation services reliable.

A privilege

“Having access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home should not be a privilege exclusively reserved for the rich living in urban areas, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-general. These services are fundamental for human health and it is the responsibility of all countries to ensure that everyone can access. “

But the road still seems long to address this inequality. Because among those who do not have running water at home, 844 million would have not even a basic service of drinking water supply, 263 million living more than 30 minutes for the first water point, and 159 million continue to drink surface water from rivers or lakes.