Just as major development projects always have environmental impact assessment, they should also require health impact assessments. Those involved in water management have to be responsible for its effects on people's health. During the past 50 years there has been a strong emphasis on medical interventions including for example, drug use and this has tended to reduce the attention and priority given to safe water supply and adequate sanitation into the back seat. With the growing resistance to antibiotics, insecticides and standard drugs, health authorities now understand the limitations of a strictly medical approach. That makes safe water and sanitation more important than ever.
Society generally looks at the contribution of development to health.
The contribution of health to development has been largely ignored. It is time to reverse this way of looking at things. Mr Gregory Hartl, WHO Spokesperson, WHO, Geneva. Jamie Bartram, WHO, Coordinator, Water, Health and Sanitation Unit, WHO, Geneva.