New Delhi (NVI): Around 4.2 billion people across the world are living without access to adequate sanitation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said at a time when an unprecedented thrust is being laid on cleanliness and repeated hand washing amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Two out of every five people in the world do not have a basic handwashing facility with soap and water at home, the global body said.
”Washing hands is key to stopping the coronavirus. Yet, 785 million people remain without safe water for drinking, let alone handwashing,” the UNDP said.
Around 4.2 billion people live without access to adequate sanitation while 4 billion people experience water shortages for at least one month of the year.
By 2050, it is projected that at least one in four people will suffer recurring water shortages as the world has lost 70 per cent of its natural wetlands over the last century, the report said.
In 2015, around 71 per cent of the global population had safely-managed drinking water but 844 million people still lacked even basic drinking water.
2.9 billion people, globally, had safe sanitation in 2015, but 2.3 billion people still lacked basic sanitation. 892 million people practised open defecation, it said.
80 per cent of wastewater goes into waterways without adequate treatment. Water stress affects more than 2 billion people if this figure projected to increase, the report added.
