61.7 million deprived of basic hygiene facilities in Bangladesh: UN report

In Bangladesh, 61.7 million people did not have access to basic hygiene facilities, close to 3% of the global burden, said a new report of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef Thursday.

In 2020, around one in four people lacked safely managed drinking water in their homes, and nearly half the world's population lacked safely managed sanitation.

In Bangladesh, 68.3 million people lacked safely managed drinking water, while 103 million people lacked safely managed sanitation facilities, says the report.

Billions of people around the world will be unable to access safely managed household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services in 2030 unless the rate of progress quadruples.

Covid-19 has highlighted the urgent need to ensure everyone can access good hand hygiene. At the onset of the pandemic, three in 10 people worldwide could not wash their hands with soap and water within their homes.

"Handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases, yet millions of people across the world lack access to a reliable, safe supply of water," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "Investment in water, sanitation and hygiene must be a global priority if we are to end this pandemic and build more resilient health systems."

"Even before the pandemic, millions of children and families were suffering without clean water, safe sanitation, and a place to wash their hands," said Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

"Despite our impressive progress to date to scale-up these lifesaving services, the alarming and growing needs continue to outstrip our ability to respond. The time has come to dramatically accelerate our efforts to provide every child and family with the most basic needs for their health and well-being, including fighting off infectious diseases like Covid-19."

The Joint Monitoring Programme report "Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020" presents estimates on household access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services over the past five years.

The report also assesses progress toward achieving the sixth sustainable development goal (SDG) to "ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030."

It notes some progress towards achieving universal access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

Between 2016 and 2020, the global population with safely managed drinking water at home increased from 70% to 74%; safely managed sanitation services grew from 47% to 54%; and handwashing facilities with soap and water increased from 67% to 71%.

In 2020, for the first time, more people used improved on-site sanitation, such as pit latrines and septic tanks, which can effectively contain and treat waste, rather than sewer connections.

However, the report makes clear that, if current trends persist, billions of children and families will be left without critical, life-saving WASH services by 2030.

To achieve universal access to safely managed drinking water by 2030, the current rate of progress in the least developed countries would need to increase ten-fold, it says