The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed its water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and waste strategy 2026–2035, setting out how it will strengthen its contribution to improving health through WASH actions within and beyond WHO.
WHO’s vision for WASH is “to substantially improve health through the safe management of water, sanitation and hygiene services in all settings”.
Unsafe WASH still drives at least 1.4 million preventable deaths each year, while climate shocks, outbreaks, migration and ageing infrastructure present additional challenges. Despite gains since 2015, 2.1 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, including 106 million who drink directly from untreated surface sources; and 3.4 billion still lack safely managed sanitation, including 354 million who practise open defecation.
The strategy aims to reinforce and strengthen WHO’s relationship with WASH partners, mobilise investment, strengthen alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation and relevant regional policy frameworks, and build on synergies between the SDGs, health and WASH.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/3438rc23
