Water & Health - 35 countries sign new Protocol

On the occasion of the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health taking place in London, 35 countries signed the Protocol on Water and Health to the UN/ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.

These countries are: Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.

"Even in the member States of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) access to safe drinking water cannot be taken for granted," says Kaj Bärlund, Director of the Environment and Human Settlements Division of UN/ECE, as intensive agriculture, industrialization and overexploitation of our water resources take their toll. One in seven Europeans does not have access to safe water. As a result several UN/ECE member States have suffered outbreaks of water-related diseases such as cholera, hepatitis A and typhoid fever in recent years. Apart from contamination with microbes and viruses, water may also be polluted with lead, arsenic, fluorides or nitrates. Agriculture also affects water quality through run-off containing pesticides and fertilizers.

The Protocol on Water and Health will help countries to reduce such outbreaks by providing safe drinking water and recreational water to people throughout Europe. It was drawn up under the auspices of UN/ECE and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Its ultimate aim is to reduce, control and prevent water-related disease.

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