Health benefits versus costs of water supply and sanitation

The millennium Development Goals aim to have the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015, but cost-effective approaches are needed if these aims are to be met. Improvement of water supply, sanitation and hygiene is likely to have most effect on reduction of faecal oral disease and in doing so reduce the health burden. Although remarkable progress has been made over the last decades in the water and sanitation sector, at present some 1.1 billion people still do not have access to safe water and 2.4 billion lack access to improved sanitation services. The goal emphasize a strong water and sanitation component in both development and health policy objectives.