Access to clean water improves community health almost immediately
Goal 6 of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals ensures the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. However, according to WHO 1996 Water and Sanitation Fact Sheet, at any given time, about half the population in the developing world is suffering from one or more of the six primary diseases associated with a water supply and sanitation, lead by diarrhoea caused by several microbial and viral pathogens in food and water. According to the World Bank estimate, more than 3 million children below age 5 in the developing world die annually from diarrheal diseases contracted through drinking water.
A principle at the core of the World Bank's human capital project is that smart investments in clean water and sanitation prevent needless deaths and transform lives. Healthier children become healthier adults who contribute more to the economy.
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The situation is dire in health facilities in developing countries. Patients and health care workers carry their water often from many kilometres away to use at the health centre.