%A Christina Gerstel
%T Millennium Development Goal 7.C--Access to Water: An Exploratory Look at Six Countries
%X At the beginning of 1980, it was estimated that 1.8 billion people, or 40 percent of the world?s population, lacked access to a safe drinking water supply.  In 2000, the United Nations established the Millennium Development Goals, and among these goals is MDG 7.C, which aims to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.  In March of 2012, the WHO and UNICEF announced that the drinking water target for MDG 7.C had been met ahead of the 2015 deadline.   However, 30 years after access to safe drinking water became a global priority, millions of people around the world still lack this basic necessity.
	Water has many important health and developmental applications and consequences.  Lack of water or access to poor quality water contributes to inadequate hygienic practices and is closely linked to diseases.  High mortality and morbidity rates that result from the inaccessibility of safe water come with significant social and economic costs.  With a primary emphasis on the consequences to health, the public health significance of this paper focuses on access to safe drinking water as a means to improve hygiene practices and reduce water-borne diseases.
	This paper explores six developing countries that have experienced different levels of success in achieving the drinking water target of MDG 7.C.  As this analysis reveals, one of the biggest contributing factors that seem to have led to the success of Malawi and Burkina Faso is each country?s ability to absorb the rapid urban population growth each has experienced while still increasing the proportion of the population?s access to improved drinking water sources.  Additionally, both countries have made water a specific development priority and backed this up with funding, sound policies and seemingly strong water sector authorities with clearly defined roles.
	There remain 780 million people without access to safe drinking water who are in constant danger of illness, disability and death.  As Malawi and Burkina Faso have demonstrated, MDG 7.C can be achieved.  With the right support and planning, many of the world?s poorest countries can achieve the same successes as these two countries.

%D 2012
%K Water, access, development, millennium development goals
%I University of Pittsburgh
%L pittir13497