Water and sanitation the key to meeting all MDGs

An East African Sanitation Conference is currently taking place in Kampala, Uganda. Experts attending the conference say that achieving all of the Millennium Development Goals hinge on improving sanitation in the region.

Some examples include having enough water so people can cook and feed themselves can help meet the hunger MDG. Also, those with sanitary toilet facilities are less likely be sick from diseases such as cholera to help meet the health MDG.

According to Water Aid, One billion people lack access to water and over 2.4 billion people do not have proper sanitation.

From All Africa writer Irene V. Nambi has this round-up of opinions from the conference.

According to the Regional Director of UNICEF ESARO, Elhadj As Sy, major goals such as reducing child mortality rates mainly rely on improving sanitation among the population in the region.

"Access to sanitation facilities is a right as it safeguards human health and dignity. Every 10 seconds a child dies as a result of sanitation-related diseases, therefore there is need to urgently accelerate efforts to achieve development goals," he said.

Dr. Aphrodis Kagaba, a health and sanitation expert from Rwanda, said that hand-washing should be scaled up to facilitate behavioural change in a bid to curb infection rates of preventable diseases.

"Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of under-five mortality. Promoting hygiene will substantially reduce child mortality that results from this disease as well as intestinal worms that are responsible for malnutrition," said Dr Kagaba.

The Executive Secretary of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation, Jamillah Mwanjisi. said that all MDGs must be achieved through universal coverage of water and sanitation.

"It is not just one MDG but all. The poverty eradication goal for example, depends on improved access of water to poor people. As a result, undernourishment is eliminated especially for those in places of disaster such as droughts."