If a water source becomes contaminated, it can quickly become a medical crisis. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1.7 billion people regularly drink water that is contaminated by faeces, putting them at risk of contracting a host of waterborne diseases. Some 1 million people die each year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by contaminated water, most of them children under the age of five. Each year, near 400,000 of these child deaths could be prevented by installing proper water and sanitation systems.
MSF water projects can range from setting up clean water sources in refugee camps to managing the emergency provision of drinking water after a natural disaster; sanitation work could involve appropriately building latrines or taking care of waste management in a hospital.
