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Notice to Readers: World Water Day --- March 22, 2005
World Water Day, March 22, 2005, marks the start of the Water for Life Decade, 2005--2015, a new United
Nations International Decade for Action (1). The decade-long effort will improve the chances of achieving international water-related goals, including that of the United Nations Millennium Declaration: by 2015, to reduce by 50% the proportion
of persons without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
An estimated 1.1 billion persons lack access to an improved water source*, and 2.6 billion persons lack access to
adequate sanitation (2). Waterborne diseases account for approximately 4 billion episodes of illness and 2.2 million deaths every year, disproportionately affecting young children
(3). Safe water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene education can
substantially reduce morbidity and mortality from diarrheal
diseases (4).
The Safe Water System (SWS) program uses simple, inexpensive technologies to empower families to treat and safely store drinking water in their homes (http://www.cdc.gov/safewater). Promotion of hand washing with soap, an intervention
proven to reduce diarrhea (5), is an integral component of SWS projects. SWS programs operate in 19 countries and were a critical tool in responding to contamination of water sources in Indonesia, India, and Myanmar after the December 2004 tsunamis. Safe Water Systems for the Developing World: A Handbook for Implementing Household-Based Water Treatment and Safe
Storage Projects is a guide for program managers, technical staff, and other personnel in organizations involved in water and sanitation projects (6). The guide is available in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. CDC, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, and other public and private partners are members of the International Network to
Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (http://www.who.int/household_water/en). Additional information
about World Water Day is available at http://www.worldwaterday.org.
Prüss A, Kay D, Fewtrell L, Bartram J. Estimating the burden of disease from water, sanitation, and hygiene at a global level. Environ Health Perspect 2002;110:537--42.
Curtis V, Cairncross S. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community: a systematic review. Lancet Infect Dis 2003;3:275--81.
CDC. Safe water systems for the developing world: a handbook for implementing household-based water treatment and safe storage projects.
Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2001. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/safewater/manual/1_toc.htm.
* Defined as water supply via a household connection, public standpipe, borehole well, protected dug well, protected spring, or rainwater collection.
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.
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