DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Providing universal access to clean water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) could reduce Tanzania's economic losses by 1.9 billion U.S. dollars annually by 2030, according to a new World Bank report released Monday.
The report released in Tanzania's port city of Dar es Salaam said the East African nation could potentially generate more than 2.4 billion U.S. dollars each year in savings on excess medical costs and lost productivity due to inadequate access to the clean water supply.
The 18th edition of the Tanzania Economic Update entitled: Clean Water, Bright Future: The Transformative Impact of Investing in WASH shows that while the country has made significant progress in recent years in improving access to WASH services, only 61 percent of households have access to the basic water supply.
The report also shows that 32 percent of households have access to basic sanitation, and 48 percent to basic hygiene according to the sustainable development goals definitions.
"More than nine percent of the population continues to practice open defecation which entails serious health risks," said the report, adding that rural areas lag behind urban centers in all dimensions of WASH.
"For Tanzania to ensure universal WASH access, the considerable upfront investment is required to avoid the devastating consequences of inadequate services," said Nathan Belete, World Bank country director for Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Death and disease are the most immediate consequences of inadequate WASH services in Tanzania causing 31,000 deaths and costing the economy more than 2.4 billion U.S. dollars each year in excess medical costs and lost productivity, according to the report. ■