Interlacing Water and Human Health: Case Studies from South Asia

Over 1 billion people lack access to safe water while 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. Inadequate availability of safe drinking water and sanitation has given rise to various diseases, where water acts as a medium for the diseases. Water-associated infectious diseases claim up to 3.2 million lives each year, approximately 6 per cent of all deaths globally. The global burden of disease reveals inadequate availability of water, sanitation and hygiene as one of the major risk factors for global ecological deaths.