William H. Frist: “I rise today to speak to legislation that will be introduced by myself and others later today that focuses on an issue…”

“I rise today to speak to legislation that will be introduced by myself and others later today that focuses on an issue which has for too long been neglected, not just by our people or our Government but, indeed, peoples around the world. It centers on the issue of access to safe water and sanitation. This legislation focuses on developing countries with specific policies outlined in the legislation. I am pleased we have Members on both sides of the aisle joining me as original cosponsors of this legislation which will be introduced later today. It boils down to the simple fact that every 15 seconds, a child dies because of a disease contracted from unclean water. Four children have died since I began talking on this particular issue. Fully 90 percent of infant deaths, of deaths of children less than 5 years of age, relate to waterborne illnesses, a product of lack of access to clean water or inadequate sanitation. In total, water-related illnesses kill 14,000 people a day, and most of them are children. That is over 5 million people a year. It does not include the other millions of individuals who will be debilitated and prevented from living healthy lives. Globally, in many ways, waterborne disease is a silent tsunami. That is the impact it has on a continuing basis. Now is the time to focus on it. Now is the time to act because these are preventable deaths.”