A “Counting the cost” present about the poor progress in the sanitation sector has serious health implications for South Asia. According to the study 2.5 billion people worldwide live without access to adequate sanitation, one billion in South Asia. Globally, 1.2 billion people practice open defecation, two thirds – 778 million – in South Asia. In Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, poor sanitation now stands as a major obstacle in the fight to reduce child mortality.

"Clean water and sanitation can make or break human development."... read about the drinking water and sanitation scenario across the world in the “Human Development Report 2006' Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis”. The HDR 2006 is an independent report commissioned by the UNDP for to assess the level of people's long-term well-being.

“Tackling the silent killer: The case for sanitation", written by Oliver Cumming, published by WaterAid in July 2008. This paper does not seek to privilege sanitation at the expense of other sectors but prioritise sanitation, alongside safe water, as part of an integrated approach to development.

This paper asserts that improved sanitation could bring the single greatest reduction in these deaths. The existing evidence points to poor sanitation being a major factor in approximately 2.4 million child deaths annually.