Determinants of national diarrheal disease burden (Environmental  Science & Technology, 2009) “Diarrheal illness is a leading cause of child mortality in developing nations. ... We estimate that reducing unmet rural sanitation need worldwide by 65% would save the equivalent of 1.2 million lives annually.”

Water, sanitation and hygiene for the prevention of diarrhoea (Int. J. Epidemiol., 2010) “Conclusion: We propose diarrhoea risk reductions of 48, 17 and 36%, associated respectively, with handwashing with soap, improved water quality and excreta disposal as the estimates of effect for the LiST [Lives Saved Tool] model. Most of the evidence is of poor quality.  More trials are needed, but the evidence is nonetheless strong enough to support the provision of water supply, sanitation and hygiene for all.”

Impact of a city-wide sanitation intervention in a large urban centre on social, environmental and behavioural determinants of childhood diarrhoea: analysis of two cohort studies (International Journal of Epidemiology, 2008)

Water, sanitation and hygiene: quantifying the health impact at national and local levels in countries with incomplete water supply and sanitation coverage (WHO, 2007)

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions to Combat Childhood Diarrhoea in Developing Countries (International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, 2009)

Rural-urban migration and child survival in urban Bangladesh: are the urban migrants and poor disadvantaged?  (Journal of Biosocial Science, 2008)
Quote: Housing conditions and access to safe drinking water and hygienic toilet facilities are the most critical determinants of child survival in urban areas.

Effect of city-wide sanitation programme on reduction in rate of childhood diarrhoea in northeast Brazil: assessment by two cohort studies (The Lancet, 2007)

Effect of water and sanitation on childhood health in a poor Peruvian peri-urban community (The Lancet, 2004)

Does Access to Water and Sanitation Affect Child Survival? A Five Country Analysis (background paper for HDR 2006)

A Logistic Analysis of Diarrhea Incidence and Access to Water and Sanitation (background paper for HDR 2006)

Integrating disease control strategies: balancing water, sanitation and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrheal disease burden (American Journal of Public Health, 2007)
Quote: We found that the benefits of a water quality intervention depend on sanitation and hygiene conditions. When sanitation conditions are poor, water quality improvements may have minimal impact regardless of amount of water contamination.

The impact of improvement of water supply and sanitation facilities on diarrhea and intestinal parasites: a Brazilian experience with children in two low-income urban communities (Revista de Saúde Pública, 1989)

Correlation between sanitation conditions and enteroparasitoses in the population of Assis, São 
Paulo State, Brazil (Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical, 1999)

Water and sanitation associated with improved child growth (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2003)

The impact of poor health on total factor productivity (Journal of Development Studies, 2006)

See also: Sanitation and Disease

Water, health and economics (WHO webpage with links to many downloadable reports)
− “Assessing the costs and impacts of different technical and policy actions provides a critical input to decision taking and policy making. WHO has developed and applied methods to apply such analysis to water, sanitation and hygiene interventions and has worked with global and regional partners to undertake and publish studies. A major area of work is to adapt these methods so that they are appropriate for use at national and project scales.”

Book: Environmental Health and Child Survival: Epidemiology, Economics, Experiences (World Bank, 2008) – here’s what Professor Sandy Cairncross (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) has to say: “This rigorous study is a godsend to anyone involved in advocacy for water and sanitation in developing countries. Until now, proving that environmental health measures make good sense economically has been a tricky business. Now this rigorous and detailed study shows that inadequate environmental health has huge costs to the economy (about 9 percent of the GDP of typical developing countries) in addition to the pain and suffering they cause. For politicians who are unmoved by arguments that failure to invest in water and sanitation will make their people poor, this study offers a clincher; it shows how lack of investment will also negatively affect their children’s educational and cognitive performance, because of the effects of malnutrition, exacerbated by frequent episodes of illness.”