Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council
WASH Partnership Meeting: Welcome address
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the WASH Partnership meeting. Water and sanitation have been recognized for a long time as being among the most important factors for public health. They are close to the top of WHO's list of the components of primary health care. Wherever people achieve reliable access to safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation they have won a major battle against a wide range of diseases.
Far too many people are still deprived of this basic requirement. An estimated 1.2 billion do not have access to safe drinking-water and 1.7 billion have no appropriate sanitation. That means almost 30% of the world's population are exposed to undue health risks.
The Millennium Development Goals include achievable targets for increased access to safe water and sanitation. But, according to World Bank and UNDP estimates, continuation at the current rate of activity will not be enough to meet these targets. The right approaches have been developed, and they are being used, but involvement and commitment are not yet on a large enough scale.
A very important part of the necessary expansion must take place at the community level, among the users themselves. Water and sanitation projects have an excellent record of community participation. They have often been the starting-point for other community health projects as well. In the case of trachoma control, for example, it makes possible a highly effective combination of preventive and treatment activities.
The WASH partnership has a good record of creativity and innovation in this regard, which will help us to find and use the approaches that work best for community mobilization. WHO is happy to act as host for the secretariat of the Council, and we look forward to working even more closely with you in countries in the coming months and years.
Before closing, I would like to acknowledge the great contribution Sir Richard Jolly has made to the work of your Council. He has not only kept the flame burning but passed it on to many others who are now working towards achieving the Millennium targets. We wish him continued success in his future activities.
The incoming chair, Jan Pronk, is no stranger to any of us, and we warmly welcome him to his new position. We look forward to working with him in our joint efforts to improve the situation of the rural and urban populations of the world.
Thank you.