Water and sanitation

18 July 2022

Water-related diseases

  • Globally, 829 000 people are estimated to die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe or inadequate drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
  • In the WHO European Region, 7 people die every day from diarrhoeal disease due to unsafe or inadequate WASH.
  • The water-related diseases shigellosis, E. coli diarrhoea, hepatitis A and cryptosporidiosis had the highest number of outbreaks in countries in the Region between 2010 and 2021, as reported in the global infectious disease database.
  • WASH interventions can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by 25–35% and significantly reduce other water-related diseases.

 

WASH for households

  • In recent years, promising trends in access to basic and safely managed drinking-water and sanitation services in the Region indicate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets 6.1 and 6.2. However, at the current rate of progress, the Region is not on track to achieve these targets by 2030, indicating the need for intensified national and local actions to ensure safely managed drinking-water and sanitation services for all.
  • In 2020, 92% of the 930 million people living in the Region used safely managed drinking-water services, which refers to improved water sources located on premises, available when needed and free from contamination.
  • Across the Region, around 16 million people still lack access to basic drinking-water services; among them, over 2.5 million still rely on untreated surface water for direct consumption.
  • In the Region, 70% of the population uses safely managed sanitation services, which refers to improved facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or removed and treated offsite, and 80% of the population uses sanitation facilities connected to sewers.
  • Approximately 29 million people in the Region lack access to basic sanitation, including hundreds of thousands who still need to practise open defecation.
  • Limited data for just 11 countries in the Region indicate that more than 90% of the population has access to a basic hygiene service – a handwashing facility with soap and water – at home.
  • Geographical, economic and social inequalities persist: populations in urban areas often have higher rates of access to basic WASH services. The poorest people – the majority of whom live in rural areas – are the most disadvantaged in access.

 

WASH in schools and health-care facilities

  • Data from over 30 countries the Region indicate that in 2021, 96% of schools used basic drinking-water services and 94% used basic sanitation and hygiene services. However, these averages mask differences and inequalities between and within countries. In some countries, access to basic drinking-water services is as low as 51%, access to basic sanitation services is only 34%, and access to basic hygiene services is just 12%.
  • A substantial data gap remains on WASH in health-care facilities in the Region, with estimates available for very few countries in 2021. By adopting World Health Assembly resolution 72.7 on WASH in health-care facilities in 2019, Member States committed to establish a national situation overview, to plan and implement evidence-informed actions, and to strengthen national monitoring and surveillance.

 

WASH-enabling environments

  • Data from 19 countries of the Region that participated in the United Nations Water (UN-Water) Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) 2021–2022 indicate that a majority of countries have recognized the human right to drinking-water and sanitation in their legislation and constitutions, and have developed national policies, targets and plans addressing water and sanitation. However, the implementation of these policies and plans is constrained by major financing gaps, in particular for rural sanitation and drinking-water.

     

    WASH and COVID-19

  • The majority of the 19 countries that participated in the GLAAS 2021–2022 survey have integrated WASH-related aspects into their national plans for COVID-19 preparedness and response, with a specific focus on hand hygiene and health-care facilities.
  • Around a third of participating countries did not specifically include WASH for vulnerable population groups and sanitation services in their national plans for COVID-19, and only 2 countries assessed the cost of WASH actions.
  • The participating countries reported several implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of WASH services, including:
    • operational and financial challenges of water supply and sanitation systems due to high service demand associated with increased hospital admissions and workforce shortages;
    • supply chain disruptions leading to shortage of water-treatment chemicals, disinfectants and other essential supplies; and
    • water quality incidents and health risks associated with temporary closure of buildings during epidemiological restrictions.