North America - Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (per 100,000 population)

Definition: Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene is deaths attributable to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene focusing on inadequate WASH services per 100,000 population. Death rates are calculated by dividing the number of deaths by the total population. In this estimate, only the impact of diarrhoeal diseases, intestinal nematode infections, and protein-energy malnutrition are taken into account.

Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).

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Development Relevance: Unsafe drinking water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene are important causes of death. Most diarrheal deaths in the world are caused by unsafe water, sanitation or hygiene. According to the World Health Organization, in addition to diarrea, the following diseases could be prevented if adequate WASH services are provided: malnutrition, intestinal nematode infections, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis and malaria.

Limitations and Exceptions: Some countries do not have death registration data or sample registration systems. The estimates on this indicator need to be completed with other type of information for these countries.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Mortality