In its 29 March 2008 editorial Keeping sanitation in the international spotlight on the International Year of Sanitation (2008) and this year's World Water Day the renowned magazine The Lancet lashes out to the international community and especially the health sector. "The shamefully weak presence of the health sector in advocating for improved access to water and sanitation is incomprehensible and completely short-sighted. Children who benefit from the huge international effort and financial and human resources spent on immunisation and bednet distribution still have a strong chance of dying from diarrhoeal illnesses—the second biggest killer of children under 5 years. Yet the global health community is standing aside, absolving itself of responsibility, and firmly passing the buck to the water and sanitation sectors. The health sector could, and should, be a powerful voice in lobbying governments, and demanding that donors give more funding to water and sanitation, just as it has done, with some success, in advocating for access to essential medicines."

Sanitation has languished at the bottom of the international agenda for far too long and the global health community has been complicit in letting it stay there. This unacceptable situation must change now.

Source: The Lancet (free registration required), 29 Mar 2008

Tags: information and communication, sanitation, water-related diseases