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Water and sanitation

Facts and figures

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  • In the WHO European region, 330 000 cases of water-related disease are reported on average every year. Water-related diseases reported to the WHO system of surveillance of communicable diseases (CISID) include Campylobacteriosis, viral hepatitis A, Giardiasis, Shigella (bloody diarrhoea), enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection, Legionellosis, cholera.
  • Access to an improved water supply and sanitation has in general increased across Europe, resulting in an 80% decrease in diarrhoeal disease in young children from 1995 to 2005. Nevertheless, more than 50% of the rural population in eastern countries still lives in homes that are not connected to a safe drinking-water supply, and this proportion is growing in some countries.
  • Sanitary equipment is insufficient in some areas of Europe, and about 85 million people (including more than 20 million in the lowest-income groups in the European Union) still lack toilets in their homes.
  • Extreme weather events are growing in frequency and intensity, and affect both the quantity and quality of water resources, raising concern among policy-makers and citizens alike. According to statistics, the number of extreme events in Europe increased by 65% between 1998 and 2007, with overall economic losses doubling to €13.7 billion from the previous decade.
  • Worldwide, WHO estimates that around 6% of the global burden of disease is related to water. Infectious diarrhoea is the largest component and accounts for 1.7 million deaths per year: about 70% of the total.
  • Water, sanitation and health intervention typically reduces diarrhoeal diseases by 15–30%, and significantly reduces other diseases.

See also

From other WHO sites

  • Safer water, better health
    Includes country estimates of the burden of disease due to water, sanitation and hygiene and highlights how much disease could be prevented through increased access to safe water and better hygiene

External resources

Related health topics