Hundreds of millions face health risk as water pollution rises across three continents

NAIROBI, KENYA: Water pollution has risen across three continents, placing hundreds of millions of people at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases like cholera and typhoid, United Nations Environment warned on Tuesday.

The worrying rise in the pollution of surface waters in Asia, Africa and Latin America also threatens to damage vital sources of food and harm the continents’ economies, says UN Environment in its latest report, Snapshot of the World’s Water Quality. By making access to quality water even more difficult, water pollution also threatens to breed further inequality, hitting the most vulnerable – women, children and the poor – the hardest.