7m people die of water borne diseases yearly, says consultant

No fewer than seven million people across the world die of water borne diseases each year, a consultant on Water Development, Mr. Emmanuel Ayeni has dis­closed.
Speaking in Osogbo in Osun State at a Water Edu­cation Training (WET) or­ganised by Nestle Nigeria Plc for selected primary school teachers in the state, Ayeni also disclosed that one billion people across the world lacked access to potable water.
Ayeni, who is the presi­dent of Star Bright, a non governmental organisa­tion based in Lagos also hinted that polluted water killed at least a child ev­ery 10 seconds.
He identified lack of potable water and poor hygiene as major causes of the high rate in child mortality in the world in­cluding Nigeria.
According to him, over 2.4 billion people across the world were without sanitation facilities, saying this had also contributed to the untimely death in most countries of the world in­cluding Nigeria.
In his remarks, the Busi­ness Manager of Nestle Water Nigeria, Mr Adewale Ojo said without the neces­sary access to safe water, the health of the people would be badly affected.