Water and Sanitation Services: Rural or Urban Haiti First?
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Low coverage rates for clean water and sanitation leave Haiti exposed to significant health burdens.
According to the latest estimates, 72% of Haiti’s population lack access to improved sanitation facilities and use either shared facilities, other improved facilities, or openly defecate. In urban areas, 66% of the population lacks access to improved facilities while in rural areas, 81% of the total population lacks access to improved facilities.
Between 2,000 and 4,500 people die each year from diarrheal disease. And the lack of basic water and sanitation services has contributed to the spread of waterborne diseases, including the cholera outbreak introduced by the United Nations in 2010.
Better water and sanitation services would make it harder for such diseases to spread.
Bjorn Lomborg discusses the research in the Huffington post.