Water Safety Policies to ensure access to safe drinking water in the Regions Swee Lian KHEW, (WPRO) Intercountry Workshop: “Reaching the most vulnerable with household water treatment and safe storage”, Vientiane Capital, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, November 2014

Contents:  Background  Health burden in Selected Countries  MDG Target  Achievement by Selected Countries  What Next – WSP & HWTS Intergration

Water Safety Plans  Water Safety Plans or WSP has been introduced in 2005 with a collaboration between WHO/AusAID  Pilot projects 2006  WPRO: Lao PDR, the Philippines and Viet Nam  SEARO: Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal  Since then, it has been expended to cover more countries

Continuous Cycle 3. Do we know the risk is under control? 2. How do we control the risk? 1.What is the risk? Water Safety Plans Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (DWQ), 4 th Edition, 2011: WSPs are “..the most cost-effective and protective means of consistently assuring a supply of acceptable drinking-water” WSP: preventive risk management system for drinking water suppliers, from catchment to consumer. All prioritized risks have control measures in place

Milestones of WSPs  Collaboration between WHO / Australia DFAT Water Quality Partnership for Health started in 2005  Countries: KMH, Cook, LAO, MNG, PHP, SAM, TON, VAN, VNM  Delivery, so far: Total of 102 WSPs established, 78 in urban areas, 24 in rural settings  Gains: 36.7 million have access to safer water. NRW down 50%  Efficiency: less than USD 50 cents per capita  Capacity: 70 trainers and trained professionals  Perspective: Improve community health (WASH services and HWTS)  Policy dialogue to ensure sustained water safety:  National standards for drinking water updated in these countries;  4 countries have a draft WSP institutional framework and are compulsory in 4 countries

15 partners contributing to the WSP activities in countries (June 2014) PartnerCountry ABDCambodia, Lao PDR, Philippines, Viet Nam ConfluenceLao PDR EarthcareVanuatu GRETCambodia JICACambodia, Philippines OFIDLao PDR Plan InternationalLao PDR Red CrossCambodia, Cook Islands SpainPhilippines SNVLao PDR USAIDPhilippines UNICEFCambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Vanuatu, Viet Nam UN HabitatCambodia, Viet Nam WBCambodia, Lao PDR World VisionMongolia

WHY WSP important?  Over 50% of deaths from diarrheal diseases are due to the consumption of unsafe water, a global average that in some countries it can be much higher (WHO 2014)  Morbidity from unsafe drinking water is even very high, especially among marginalised populations  We know that adequate water and sanitation, food and nutrition, environment, are basic conditions to contribute to sustainable development

Diarrhoea deaths in selected countries (2012) Country Deaths from Unsafe water Deaths from Lack of sanitation Deaths from Poor hygiene Cambodia Lao PDR Mongolia Philippines2, ,644 Viet Nam ,031 Total 3,9311,9035,903 Source: “Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Low- and Middle-Income Settings: A Retrospective Analysis of Data from 145 Countries.” Prüss-Ustün et al. Tropical Medicine & International Health.

Action is taken,  All national health authorities are aware of important to have access to safe drinking water  Most take adequate actions, often together with partners such as WHO, many other agencies. but…. too often results are not sustained  This is why water and sanitation are among the target in MDG.

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme of Water and Sanitation: New data on global progress MDG Target Drinking Water MDG target met at: 88% Coverage in 2012: 89% No. of countries met MDG target: 116 Sanitation MDG target to be met: 75% Coverage in 2012: 64% No. of countries met MDG target: 77 Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015

Achievement in selected countries (2012) WaterSanitation Country UrbanRuralNationalUrbanRuralNational Year(%) China Lao DPR Philippines Viet Nam

Risks in the home remain  WSP in place, but in many locations, drinking water which is rendered safe and once delivered to homes it may becomes contaminated, if not handled and stored properly  Question: What happen with the risks “outside” the system at household level?

WSP missing link WSP: preventive risk management system for drinking water suppliers, from catchment to consumer. All prioritized risks have control measures in place 4 Question: What happens “outside” the system, at the household level?

Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage:  Low-cost interventions for household-based treatment of drinking-water and safe storage, via basic hygiene  Promotion of behavioral change in terms of good hygiene, linking with access to improved sanitation  WSP can help identify where to target HWTS and to assess and strengthen HWTS practices  Challenge: HTWS integration in national policy dialogue

SUSTAINED enabling environment Practices at home and those imparted by parents, at school, the workplace, in the community and society at large; all need to converge to succeed in achieving safe drinking water

SUSTAINED enabling environment (…continue) To ensure a sustained environment, one big challenge is to better integrate and coordinate efforts of the various health and water authorities at the levels of policy, institutional arrangements and responsibilities, sustained financing, and instructional practices

The way forward: Therefore, we need to know the existing water related policy frameworks in our countries to improve them and have adequate policies and institutional arrangements that will facilitate the concrete actions needed to ensure equitable access to safe drinking water on a sustainable basis

It is time for a CHANGE! Thank you for your kind attention!

WHO HWTS Manual Treatment_Safe_Storage_PARTICIPANT.pdf

HWTS in Emergency