Phl ahead of MDG 2015 target on access to sanitation

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has exceeded its Millenium Development Goal (MDG) 2015 target of providing its population access to improved sanitation facilities.

Likewise, the country is on track to surpass its MDG 2015 target of providing safe drinking water to the population.

According to the 2012 ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) report released yesterday, the Philippines already exceeded this target in 2002 at 86 percent and as of 2010, 91.9 percent of Filipinos already had access to improved sanitation facilities.

The MDG target for sanitation is to provide 83.8 percent of the population with access to improved sanitation facilities by 2015.

The report indicated an increase across all ASEAN member states (AMS) on this indicator. Each member state recorded an increasing trend from 2000 to 2010 in terms of the percentage of population with access to improved sanitary facilities. 

In 2010, ASEAN, on the average, had 76.3 percent of its population with access to improved sanitary facilities. This is a significant increase from the 2000 average of 68.9 percent.

Singapore ranked first in this indicator with 100 percent of its population having access to sanitary toilet facility, followed by Thailand with 99.3, Malaysia with 98.4, and the Philippines with 91.9 percent.

On the other hand, Lao PDR and Cambodia ranked lowest in this indicator at 49 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the proportion of Filipinos with access to safe drinking water increased to 82.5 percent in 2010 from 78.7 percent in 2000.

The MDG target is to provide access to improved drinking water to 86.5 percent of Filipinos by 2015.

The latest figure, for 2010 at 82.5 percent falls short but is on track to achieve – possibly even surpass – the target by the 2015 MDG deadline.

The ACPMS report indicated improvements across all AMS on this indicator.

Each member state recorded an increasing trend from 2000 to 2010 in terms of the percentage of population with access to improved drinking water. These improvements refer to both the development in infrastructure and the sustainability of the environment where water can be used more efficiently.

Both Singapore and Brunei Darussalam ranked first in this indicator with 100 percent of their population having access to safe drinking water, followed by Thailand with 99.1 percent, Malaysia with 94.2 percent, Vietnam with 90.5 percent, and the Philippines with 82.5 percent.

On the other hand, Cambodia and Indonesia ranked lowest with 48.2 percent and 44 percent, respectively. Myanmar has no data for 2010, although in 2009 it recorded 82.3 percent.