More resources need to be committed to the provision of safe water sources and sanitation in Papua New Guinea

[Extract] At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight international development goals established to address the major inequities faced by developing countries (1). the MDGs are a framework for the world to reduce poverty, illiteracy, gender inequality, child mortality, maternal mortality and environmental degradation (Table 1) (2). The eight major Development Goals are further divided into specific targets, which include a series of health and economic indicators. A target for access to improved drinking water sources was originally included in the MDGs, but a target for sanitation was not; it was added in 2002 (3). Water and sanitation are now both targets of MDG 7 (Ensure Environmental Sustainability), as subgoal 7c: "Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basice sanitation" (4)