WASH

WASH (also called Watsan, WaSH or WSH) stands for "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene" - several interrelated public health issues that are of particular interest to international development programs. Affordable access to WASH is a key public health issue, especially in developing countries.

Several international development agencies have identified WASH as an area with significant potential to improve health, life expectancy, student learning, gender equality, and other important issues of international development.

Access to WASH, in particular safe water, supply adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education, can reduce illness and death, and also impact poverty reduction and socio-economic development. Lack of sanitation contributes to approximately 700,000 child deaths every year due to diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea can have a negative effect on child development (both physical and cognitive). In addition, lack of WASH facilities can prevent students from attending school, impose a burden on women and diminish productivity.

In developping countries, access to WASH is challenging and in 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that still “2.5 billion people – more than one third of the global population – live without basic sanitation facilities” while 750 million people still lack access to safe and clean drinking water.

The concept of WASH, groups together water, sanitation, and hygiene because the impact of deficiencies in each area overlap strongly. Addressing these deficiencies together, can achieve a strong positive impact on public health.

...
Wikipedia