Invest in access to clean water to avert diseases, A new report suggests

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

A new report by WHO and UNICEF, released on Global Handwashing Day, reveals that giving everyone in the world’s poorest countries access to handwashing with soap and water, would cost around $11 billion. That would transform the life-chances of people who are currently unable to simply wash their hands at home.

“Millions of lives could be saved and billions of dollars in untapped economic potential could be unlocked for the equivalent of just $1.40 per head of the global population”, says WaterAid.

As G20 leaders prepare to gather in Rome to improve pandemic preparedness, WaterAid warns that government investment must be made to provide handwashing for all as it plays a critical role in the fight against preventable diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections

Washing hands with soap and clean  water can reduces the out brake of diseases  

According to latest estimates from WHO and UNICEF, three in 10 people worldwide cannot wash with soap and water at home, and at current rates of progress, 1.9 billion people – families and children – will still be unable to so by 2030.

WaterAid’s own recent analysis in its Mission Critical report, concluded that trillions of dollars could be unlocked over the next two decades through universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Achieving this could generate a net benefit of $45bn per year, and even just providing a tap in every household could yield $37bn USD annually.

WaterAid warned  that progress is worryingly slow. For everyone to be able to wash their hands at home by 2030, one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, governments need to make progress at least four times faster than they currently are. However, the economic value of handwashing for all, alongside water and sanitation services, is vastly underestimated by governments, business and donors, resulting in chronic under-investment.

Investing in water, sanitation and hygiene brings multiple wins for governments, WaterAid says: it is value for money, it helps achieve health targets and it increases productivity to support economic growth. If governments invested in even basic water, hygiene and toilets it would bring a return on investment of up to 21 times the cost.