by Hugh Holub

Created on: March 05, 2010   Last Updated: March 18, 2010

In a 33-page report titled "Progress for Children: a Report Card on Water and Sanitation" released last September by the United Nation's children's agency UNICEF, polluted water and lack of basic sanitation claim the lives of over 1.5 million children every year, mostly from water-borne diseases.

According to that UNICEF report an estimated 425 million children under 18 still do not have access to an improved water supply, and over 980 million do not have access to adequate sanitation.

To remedy this problem, the World Health Organization and UNICEF estimates that developing nations will need at least 11.3 billion dollars a year to meet low-cost basic levels of service for both drinking water and sanitation by the year 2015. And more than 80 percent of the total resources will be needed in Asia and Africa.

Let's put that 11.3 billion dollars in context. There are about 100 million American families and another 100 million European families. If these 200 million families donated $56 a year, a  little over one dollar or Euro a week, that would cover the cost.

A little more than one dollar a week to save over a million and a half children per year? Wait a minute. Why aren't we doing this?

The first thing we have to do is get really outraged that so little money could save so many lives.

Like how much money are we really talking about? The bonuses given out on Wall Street the last 3 years?

But outrage will not clean up the water.

We need a mechanism that will raise the necessary money and then administer it so the water projects will actually get built where they are needed.

Obviously the United States could provide a significant portion of the needed funding, especially if programs that waste taxpayer money were elim,inated in favor of safe drinking water  projects around the world. Maybe eliminate tobacco growinbg and cotton growing subsidies as a start. But there needs to be a loud voice from the American people to Washington about providing safe drinking water instead of tea partying.

Absent government funding, how about all the television networks in North America and Europe start a massive telethon. Pledge $56 a year for 4 years to bring safe drinking water and sanitation to the world's children. Lets save 4,500 lives a day!

Remember, over a million and one half children per year are dying needlessly. Clean water and sanitation should be a basic human right everywhere on Earth.

If the developed world can't raise the money, then there's something wrong with us.

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