A/62/214 51. It is estimated that 1.8 million people die each year from diarrhoeal diseases, including cholera; 90 per cent of these are children under 5 years of age, mostly in developing countries. According to WHO, 88 per cent of diarrhoeal disease is caused by unsafe water and inadequate sanitation. Improved water supply could reduce diarrhoea morbidity by up to 25 per cent, while improved sanitation could reduce it by 32 per cent. 19 52. Approximately 1.3 million people die of malaria each year; 90 per cent of these are children under 5 years of age. Irrigation, dams and other water-related projects are primary contributors to this disease. Better management of water resources would reduce transmission of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.19 53. Similarly, 160 million people are infected with schistosomiasis, a disease causing tens of thousands of deaths every year, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. The disease is strongly related to unsanitary excreta disposal and the absence of nearby sources of safe water. Basic sanitation could reduce the disease by up to 77 per cent.19 54. Some 6 million people worldwide are blind because of trachoma and more than 150 million people are in need of treatment. Improving access to safe water sources and better hygiene can reduce trachoma morbidity by 27 per cent.19 55. Access to safe water and adequate sanitation is crucial in the context of HIV/AIDS. In relation to HIV/AIDS, as with other medical conditions, water is needed for taking medication, bathing patients, washing soiled clothing and for essential hygiene that reduces exposure to infections. When children born to women living with HIV are ensured uninterrupted access to nutritionally adequate breastmilk substitutes that are prepared using safe water, they are at less risk of illness and death. 20 As the former Secretary-General Kofi Annan observed: “We shall not finally defeat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, or any other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care.” 21 56. In the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the international community recognized the relationship between poverty, water, sanitation, health and human development by including water supply, sanitation and hygiene in the Millennium Development Goals. Target 10 of the goals is to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. However, according to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, on current trends the world will miss the sanitation target by more than half a billion people. Also, although the world as a whole is on track to achieve the drinking water target, the trend appears to be deteriorating. 22 57. Achieving the target on water and sanitation would bring substantial economic benefits. According to a recent WHO study, each dollar invested would yield an economic return of between $3 and $34, depending upon the region. If the target for water and sanitation were met, the health-related costs avoided would reach __________________ 19 20 21 22 12 See www.iwho.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/facts2004/en. UNAIDS/UNICEF/WHO, HIV and Infant Feeding: Guidelines for Decision Makers, 1998. Statement made by Kofi Annan to the fifty-fourth World Health Assembly, Geneva, 17 May 2001. WHO/UNICEF, Meeting the Millennium Development Goal Global Water and Sanitation Target: the Urban and Rural Challenge of the Decade (2006). 07-45379