PRESS
RELEASE

Water crisis affects 130 million people in the Americas

Washington, DC, October 3, 2003 (PAHO)—In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 130 million people do not have safe drinking water in their homes, and only 86 million are connected to adequate sanitation systems, according to figures prepared for Inter-American Water Day, commemorated Oct. 4.

This water crisis also reflects access inequity, both in the Americas and in the rest of the world: the percentages of population without drinking water services and sanitation are 5 times higher in rural areas than in the cities.

While the world population has doubled since 1900, water consumption has risen six-fold and industrial water consumption rose 40-fold. The quantity of fresh water available is limited, nonrenewable and poorly distributed. "The quantity of available water remains the same. Its scarcity could be a serious obstacle to development in the millennium," according to an Inter-American Water Day publication.

Inter-American Water Day has a dual purpose: to raise consciousness about the importance of water and to alert governments, international organizations, and private entities about the need to improve drinking water supplies. This is needed to reduce water contamination, which is closely linked to bacterial, parasitic, and other water-borne diseases, especially cholera and diarrhea, the publication notes. If the poorer populations of the Americas received basic drinking water and sanitation services, morbidity from diarrhea would be reduced by 17 percent every year.

One of the health targets of the millennium development goals, agreed by the countries of the Americas, is to cut by half the proportion of people without safe water and sanitation by the year 2015.

PAHO's CEPIS center said water management is "vital because we should reverse the situation of millions of people who do not have access to drinking water services," or sanitation services, or have poor quality services.

Inter-American Water Day this year is being held during the International Year of Fresh Water, declared by the United Nations General Assembly. The slogan is "Water: let's not take it for granted."

Water is essential for life, according to CEPIS, and some of its data confirm this common phrase:

• 75 percent of the population suffers from chronic dehydration.
• Lack of water is a leading cause of the fatigue that many people suffer during the day.
• Preliminary research indicates that drinking eight to 10 glasses of water per day can significantly reduce back and joint pains.
• Other studies indicate that drinking five glasses of water daily reduces the risk of colon cancer by 45 percent and bladder cancer by 50 percent.

Co-sponsors of Inter-American Water Day include the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, the Organization of American States, PAHO, and the UN Environment Program's regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, has been working for more than 100 years with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples. Established in 1902, PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States, and Portugal and Spain are Observer States. Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.