We Cannot Tolerate Children Dying for a Glass of Water

Kevin Watkins
Wednesday March 8, 2006

The rich world must act to prevent dirty water and poor sanitation now killing more than a million children a year.

Nobody reading this started the day with a two-mile hike to collect the family's daily water supply from a stream. None of us will suffer the indignity of using a plastic bag for a toilet. And our children don't die for want of a glass of clean water.

Perhaps that's why we have such a narrow view of what constitutes a "water crisis". Dwindling reservoirs and a few ministerial exhortations to flush the toilet less often, and we've got a national emergency on our hands. Hold the front page, there could be a hosepipe ban in the home counties.


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