CDC at Work: Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
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Fact Sheets: CDC's Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Program Overview [PDF - 1 page]
CDC's Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Program Impact [PDF - 1 page]
Inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions exist in a range of settings, from temporary refugee camps to permanent homes in large cities.
CDC’s global WASH program provides expertise and interventions aimed at saving lives and reducing illness by improving global access to healthy and safe water, adequate sanitation, and improved hygiene. The WASH program works on long-term prevention and control measures for improving health, reducing poverty, and improving socio-economic development as well as responding to global emergencies and outbreaks of life-threatening illnesses. These improvements reduce the lethal impact of WASH-related diseases ranging from cholera to typhoid fever to hepatitis.
CDC’s global WASH work is focused in six areas and involves partnerships with other US government agencies, Ministries of Health, non-governmental agencies, and various international agencies.
Making Water Safe to Drink and Use
Photo courtesy of D. Lantagne
Promoting safe water through CDC’s Safe Water System (SWS), which allows individuals, health workers, and schoolteachers to treat and safely store water in homes, health facilities, and schools, and Water Safety Plans (WSPs), which identify water quality threats in community water systems and water utilities, while implementing solutions to those threats.
Improving Hygiene and Sanitation
Improving the efficacy, sustainability, and integration of hygiene and sanitation interventions into communities and institutions, such as schools. Visit the healthywater hygiene site to learn more about hygiene programs.
Responding to Complex International Emergencies and Outbreaks
Photo CDC Foundation
Deploying emergency response and outbreak investigation teams at the request of foreign governments and U.N. agencies.
Controlling and Eliminating Disease
Photo courtesy of S. Roy
Identifying WASH-related factors needed to control or eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) like Guinea worm disease, trachoma, and intestinal worm infections, which impact hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Identifying and Characterizing Disease
Photo CDC Foundation
Investigating the causes of illness, such as diarrhea, to provide critical health data for decision making. Additional links:
Educating and Training about Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
Photo CDC Foundation
Developing model programs and materials for public health staff training and community health promotion.
- Page last reviewed: December 17, 2015
- Page last updated: December 17, 2015
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