Water is life. Yet increasingly this resource is scarce, contaminated, the source of disease transmission, or the cause of natural disaster. UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program (WASH) has paved the way by demonstrating the interdependencies between clean water access, sanitation systems, basic hygiene practices and health. These vital prevention practices have saved lives and reduced morbidity, especially among children, from diseases such as schistosomiasis, cholera, trachoma and diarrhea.

The lack of access to clean water is increasingly becoming a source of conflict, migration, disease and death. Diarrhea and poor toilets caused by dirty water is responsible for more than 800 deaths among children every day. Lack of access to clean water, reliable sanitation, and good hygiene keeps children away from school, adults away from work, and causes economic harm, ultimately trapping people in poverty. Sustainable solutions may include effective WASH guidelines and behavioral change programs, which are implemented in national health plans, health facilities, and schools.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene must be priorities for quality healthcare and patient safety. Without these basic fundamental services, attaining UHC is impossible.