Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
Notice to Readers: World Water Day --- March 22, 2008
In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development designated March 22 as World
Water Day to promote activities related to conservation and development of water resources through advocacy, publication,
and the organization of conferences (1). The theme for World Water Day 2008 is The International Year of Sanitation.
Basic sanitation includes access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste and the ability to
maintain hygienic conditions through services such as garbage collection, industrial or hazardous waste management,
and wastewater disposal (2). Approximately 2.6 billion persons live without basic sanitation, including 1 billion
children. Each year, an estimated 1.5 million children die as a result of poor sanitation, from preventable conditions such
as diarrhea and malnutrition (3). To meet the United
Nations Millennium Development Goal to reduce by half
the proportion of persons without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, 1.6 billion persons will
need access to improved sanitation during 2005--2015
(4).
Effective sanitation programs should include measures to promote personal hygiene, increase access to
sanitation facilities, improve drinking water quality, and improve wastewater and industrial waste management processes.
Without proper sanitation facilities and wastewater and industrial waste management, local environment and drinking
water supplies can become contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and chemicals, increasing the risk for disease.
Programs such as CDC's Water Plus/Agua y Mas empower
communities to participate in development of water safety
plans, helping them to build skills for maintaining and sustaining improved sanitation programs
(5).
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. International year of sanitation: UN action plan. New York, NY:
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; 2007. Available at
http://esa.un.org/iys/ap.shtml.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. International year of sanitation: sanitation is vital for human health. New York,
NY: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs; 2007. Available at
http://esa.un.org/iys/health.shtml.
CDC. Safe Water System. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2006. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/safewater.
CDC. Safe water for the community: a guide for establishing a community-based Safe Water System program. Atlanta, GA: US Department
of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2008. Available at
http://www.ehproject.org/pdf/ehkm/cdc-safewater_community.pdf.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text
into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or
the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800.
Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
mmwrq@cdc.gov.
