Lack of access to safe drinking-water and poor sanitation still threatens the health of millions of people in the WHO European Region. This critical situation rarely hits the headlines as it is often overshadowed by water-related problems in other parts of the world. Even though most Europeans take clean water for granted nowadays, too many people are still without a regular supply of safe water. Of the roughly 877 million people in the WHO European Region, almost 140 million (16%) do not have a household connection to a drinking-water supply, 85 million (10%) do not have improved sanitation and over 41 million (5%) do not have access to a safe drinking-water supply.
This evidence from the WHO Regional Office for Europe features at the start of the International Decade for Action 2005-2015. The Decade was proposed by the Government of Tajikistan to the 58th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. On 23 December 2003, the General Assembly named the decade 2005-2015 "Water for Life" and called upon the relevant United Nations organizations to deliver a coordinated response.
"The "Water for Life" initiative is the opportunity for the United Nations to take action for safer water and better sanitation", says Dr Marc Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe."WHO wishes to contribute to the achievement of the international water-related targets set by the Agenda 21, the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. Our objective is to reduce the burden of water-related diseases, with a special focus on children, as targeted in the Millennium Development Goals."
A recent WHO estimate of mortality from diarrhoeal disease attributable to poor water, sanitation and hygiene, showed that, in the WHO European Region, 13 500 deaths a year of children under 14 years of age are due to poor water conditions. The largest contribution to this burden, with over 11 000 deaths, comes from a group of countries in the EUR-B subregion1, where the water supply and sanitation coverage is the most problematic.
For the same group of countries, the 2002 data from a joint WHO and UNICEF report2 show that:
- 86% of the population has access to a safe drinking-water supply;
- 63% of the population has a household drinking-water connection;
- 96.7% of the urban population has access to a safe drinking-water supply and 80.4% has the connection in their homes; and
- 72.4% of the rural population has access to a safe drinking-water supply.
With 59.2% of the rural population lacking access to a household drinking-water connection, the conditions are comparable to the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean (58%). With 45.6% of the rural population lacking access to improved sanitation, the conditions in the EUR-B subregion are comparable to those in north Africa where an average of 43% of the population lack access. Evidence indicates that to make a difference in water supply and sanitation across the European Region, actions should be targeted to the specific needs of countries, regions, or populations. WHO has supported European Member States through the Protocol on Water and Health. Adopted in 1999, the Protocol aims to protect human health and well-being by improving water management and preventing, controlling and reducing water-related diseases. It has been signed so far by 36 countries in the Region and ratified by 15. One more ratification is needed for its entry into force.
Legislative reforms, laboratory training and harmonization of data collection are the main actions that WHO supports in the European Region. WHO is also promoting the introduction of plans to ensure water safety, aiming to control the drinking-water cycle from its early stages, starting from the protection of surface and groundwater resources to distribution.
"For the Protocol to work properly, it needs all the players at country level to be fully involved, to ensure efficient and effective water services in order to prevent the related diseases", concludes Dr Roberto Bertollini, Director of the Special Programme on Health and Environment at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. "Public health cannot advance without safe water."
