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Furious Facts

WATER/SANITATION

  1. 884 million people in the world lack access to safe water supplies.
  2. More than 840,000 people die each year from water-related disease.
  3. Almost 2 in 3 people who need safe drinking water survive on less than $2 a day.
  4. In many developing countries, millions of women spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources.
  5. Every minute a child dies of a water-related disease.
  6. Diarrhea caused by inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene kills an estimated 842,000 people every year globally, or approximately 2,300 people per day.
  7. More than 1/2 of all primary schools in developing countries don’t have adequate water facilities and nearly 2/3 lack adequate sanitation.
  8. More than 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated, polluting rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
  9. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions.
  10. Every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates $8 as a result of saved time, increased productivity and reduced health care costs.
  11. Sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest hit by unsafe water, with 319 million people affected, with Southern Asia coming in second at 134 million people affected.
  12. At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from
    diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and
    poor hygiene.
  13. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. » Someone dies of a water-related illness every 14 seconds. » Approximately one-third of deaths in the developing world are caused by contaminated water. » Almost one-tenth of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve health and nutritional status in a sustainable way. » 88% of cases of diarrhea worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.

EYE HEALTH

  1. 1 billion people live with either impaired vision or nearly impaired vision.
  2. An estimated 253 million people who are visually impaired. Of those, 36 million are blind and 217 million have moderate to severe impairment.
  3. Across the world, chronic eye diseases are the main cause of vision loss. Uncorrected eye problems and untreated cataracts are the top causes of eye impairment. Untreated cataracts remains the leading cause of blindness in developing countries.
  4. Improper sanitation and unsafe water leads to eye diseases such as trachoma, which leads to blindness.
  5. Over 80% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured.
  6. 89% of people with visual impairments live in developing countries.
  7. 55% of those moderately to severely visually impaired are women.
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