Sources for the following often-cited statistics are linked here:

• Worldwide, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death of children under five years, after pneumonia (World Mortality Report, Global Health Council: WHO 2005, http://www.globalhealth.org/sources/view.php3?id=1161).
• 1.8 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases, the majority children, under 5 years. (WHO 2004, http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/facts2004/en/ )
• 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion who have no facilities at all (Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation. UNICEF, New York and WHO, Geneva, 2008, http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp2008/en/index.html )
• 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water ( 2006 United Nations Human Development Report, pp.6, 7, 35, http://hdr.undp.org/en/ )
• Improved handwashing behavior can reduce child diarrheal deaths by more than 40% and providing access to a toilet can reduce child diarrheal deaths by over 30%, (International Year of Sanitation Advocacy Kit, UN-Water 2008, Talking Points, http://esa.un.org/iys/IYSaction.shtml ).

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