An estimated 80 percent of all illness in the developing world is caused by lack of clean water and proper sanitation. AIDS has killed over 16 million people. Over 70 percent of HIV infections worldwide are the result of heterosexual transmission. More than one billion people are disabled by micronutrient deficiencies. Without iron, vitamin A, folic acid, zinc, and iodine, the body ceases to develop and function properly.
Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of preventable mental impairment worldwide.
For lack of the equivalent of one tablespoon of iodine spread over an entire life span, millions of people suffer goiter and reduced intelligence. Each year 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind due to vitamin A deficiency, and two-thirds of these children are likely to die as a result of their disability. The PSI safe water program launch attracted a large crowd in Zambia. PSI programs deliver affordable health products, services , and information that save lives and give children a chance. PSI programs do so at a low per capita cost that few other health care delivery models can match.