2008: international year on sanitation

The UN calls for urgent action for the more than 40 per cent of the world’s population who continue to live without improved sanitation. It is estimated that 88% of the global burden of disease is attributable to unsafe water supply, lack of sanitation and hygiene and is mostly concentrated on children in developing countries. Every day, this contributes to the deaths of 5,000 children from largely preventable causes, including diarrhoeal diseases and parasites.

Therefore, the UN launched 2008 as the international year on sanitation.