by Santosh Digal

The director of the Water and Sanitation Program of East Asia and the Pacific said this was due to a lack of coordination among government agencies as well as the absence of political will.

Manila (AsiaNews) – Close to one billion Asians have no access to basic sanitation like toilets and clean water, according to the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of East Asia and the Pacific.

Brian Steven Smith, program director, raised this problem during a recently held workshop in Manila with media and government representatives from the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

According to the information presented, China ranks first on the list of countries plagued by hygiene and sanitation problems linked to water: more than 700 million Chinese do not have access to drinking water. In the Philippines, 23 million people – mostly coming from the south – are “hygienically disadvantaged”.

“Asia is the world’s fast-growing region economically but it is also the most backwards as regards availability of commodities to meet basic needs like health,” said Smith.

This is down to “a lack of political will and coordination among government agencies and also a lack of political will. Governments should realise this and act to prevent mortal epidemics like hepatitis or leprosy.”

What’s more, public awareness campaigns are urgently needed. “Around 11 million Cambodians do not realize the risks that the lack of basic sanitation and putrid water pose to their health.”

• Asia
• philippines
• china
• health
• water
• access
• systems
• politics
• economy
• society
• peasants