The world’s water situation is dire. The World Health
Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.5 billion people do not have
access to clean water—that’s almost one in four people. Four
million people die of water-related diseases each year. Diarrhea
is the second largest cause of child mortality in the world and
kills up to 1,600 people a day. As a result of unsafe water,
diarrhea and upper respiratory infections kill 3.5 million
children under the age of 5. World Water Day is in less than two
weeks, and this issue focuses on the challenges of providing
clean water and quality healthcare to those who need it most.
WHO estimates that out-of-pocket, point-of-care expenditures
account for more than 70% of healthcare spending in India. This
can continue the cycle of poverty. Read more about Arogya
Parivar, a rural healthcare business catering to the bottom of
the pyramid. This is one initiative aiming to solve that
problem. Currently, the program reaches 50 million rural Indians
with plans to expand to 350 million in