Fri Nov 07 2025
WHO | Dr Tedros video message for the Sanitation and Water for All 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting
Safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are fundamental to health and climate resilience, and investing in climate-resilient WASH saves lives, advances equity and delivers strong returns. Watch WHO Director-General Dr Tedros’s video message for the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Sector Ministers’ Meeting, co-convened by the Government of Spain, SWA and UNICEF, in Madrid, Spain, on 22-23 October 2025, including a tribute to the late Catarina de Albuquerque
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Speakers
00:00:00
Dr. Tedros
Transcriptions
Dr. Tedros
Honourable ministers, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends. Buenos dias. My thanks to the government of Spain, Sanitation and Water for All, and UNICEF for convening this important meeting. Access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is essential for human health and for building resilience and adapting to climate change. Floods and droughts can damage wash infrastructure, contaminate water sources, and disrupt vital access. Climate resilient wash services are vital for protecting vulnerable populations from diseases, including diarrheia, cholera, typhoid, and influenza. Underinvestment in WASH has left billions of people without safe drinking water, safe sanitation, basic handwashing services, services and with health facilities that lack even basic water services. This puts patients and health workers at risk for health care-acquired infections like sepsis, but also water-borne diseases, anti-microbole resistance, and pandemics. Smart investment and management in WASH will help to save more than one million lives, contribute to human rights and gender equality, and bring substantial economic returns. Making WASH services safe, available, and sustainable requires working together across sectors and borders with accountable governance, long-term planning, and accountability. Finally, I offer my deepest condolences on the passing of Katharina Di Albecerq, herk. Her commitment and leadership will continue to inspire us to continue her work and her legacy.Muchas gracias. I thank you.
