Clean water access in poor areas to be prioritised

Eighty-three per cent of the rural population has access to hygienic water, but sanitation facilities and hygienic water resources in remote and mountainous areas are still lacking, experts told a conference yesterday in Ha Noi.

About 60 per cent of rural houses had hygienic latrines, said head of the Irrigation Department Vu Van Thang. He reported the achievements accomplished concerning rural water supply and the sanitation sector during the 2006-10 period.

Some 23 per cent of households however still had no latrines, and about one-third of households had hygienic latrines which are not properly used or maintained, he added.

Providing hygienic water and sanitation facilities to households and schools in rural area across the country has been the main focus of this five-year national target programme, financially backed by international donors from Denmark, Australia, the Netherlands and the UK.

"Access to safe water is an issue that affects the poor and the better off differently," said John Nielsen, ambassador of Denmark to Viet Nam. According to the 2008 Viet Nam Living Standard Survey, the poorest 20 per cent are five times less likely to have hygienic latrines than the richest 20 per cent.

In Viet Nam, there were about 7 million people who contract diarrhoea every year and about 20,000 children died from the malady, said UNIEF representative in Viet Nam Lotta Sylwander. "This number is very high, and having access to hygienic water is a fundamental human right," she said.

In the next five years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development targets to continue this project and will reach out to 62 poorest districts. By 2015, the ministry hopes that 95 per cent of the rural population will have access to hygienic water and 75 per cent of the households will have hygienic latrines.

(Source: VNS)