USA helped reduce diarrhea incidence in Indonesia through improving clean water and sanitation practices

The United States Agency for International Development has announced that is has helped Indonesia "dramatically reduce diarrhea incidence" in communities where clean water and sanitation practices were adopted. The number of people suffering from the water-borne disease dropped from 18.3% in February 2007 to 7.7% in June 2009, in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Java, Central Java/Yogyakarta, East Java, DKI Jakarta and Papua.

In preparing for a USAID workshop on clean water and sanitation, Mission Director Walter North noted that USAID’s Environmental Services Program (ESP) had made tremendous contributions to the improvement of better health through improved water resources management, and expanded access to clean water and sanitation services. ESP was a sixty-four month program that worked with government, private sector, NGOs, community groups and other stakeholders to promote better health through improved water resources management and expanded access to clean water and sanitation services.

“Unsafe drinking water is a major cause of diarrhea, the second leading killer of children under five. Three out of every ten Indonesians suffer from water-borne diseases,” said North. “Fortunately, in the last few years we have seen growing interest and support by all stakeholders to increase access to safe water for the people of Indonesia.”

The ESP also contributed to improvements in conservation management of 78,144 ha of forest area and rehabilitated 52,561 ha of degraded land to support the conservation of water resources. It helped more than 1.25 million people obtain access to clean water and 60,000 people to benefit from community sanitation services. Achieved in close collaboration with Indonesian government and civil society partners, ESP helped meet important Millennium Development Goals.

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