Environment, Water and Natural Resources Cabinet Secretary Prof Judi Wakhungu has blamed child mortality in Kenya on inadequate access to clean water and quality sanitation services.
Prof Wakhungu observed that young school children often skip their classes if their school lacks adequate water and sanitation facilities.
Speaking on Tuesday at Nyangori market, Gachuba Ward in Nyamira County during a groundbreaking ceremony for Keroka town water supply and sanitation project,Wakhungu disclosed that more than a quarter of all people in the developing world lack access to safe drinking water sources.
She added that more than half of the people in the developing world also lack access to sanitation services thereby posing a threat to children under five years of age.
"Lack of safe drinking water and sanitation has negative effects on health, especially water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea which has profound impact on children under five years,"stated Wakhungu.
She noted that access to water, sanitation and hygiene, improves education outcomes because it reduces the time spent on fetching water. This means that children are able to attend school and reduces incidences of waterborne diseases which lead to absenteeism from school.