Everyday Should Be World Water Day

Diseases associated with water and sanitation continue to cause thousands of preventable deaths each day. About 135,000 children die each month, a disaster by anyone's standards. It is an interesting phenomenon that society pays attention to a natural disaster -- like an earthquake or a tsunami -- far differently than a silent, ongoing disaster that takes, steadily and relentlessly, more lives.

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This year, World Water Day coincides with the International Year of Sanitation, challenging us to spur action on a crisis affecting more than one out of three people on the planet.

Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of the abysmal sanitation conditions endured by some 2.6 billion people globally. That adds up to an unconscionable 1.5 million young lives cut short by a cause we know well how to prevent.

Poor sanitation combines with a lack of safe drinking water and inadequate hygiene to contribute to the terrible global death toll. Those who survive face diminished chances of living a healthy and productive existence. Children, especially girls, are forced to stay out of school, while hygiene-related diseases keep adults from engaging in productive work.

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