Access to appropriate, reliable WaSH protects against water-related diseases, particularly after climate hazards such as heavy rainfalls and floods . WaSH interventions have been demonstrated to reduce diarrhoea risk by 25-75% depending on the specific intervention  . Conversely, inadequate WaSH is associated with an estimated annual loss of 50 million daily adjusted life years , of which 89% of deaths are due to diarrhoea, and 8% of deaths from acute respiratory infections , making universal access to WaSH  a critical adaptation strategy . However, not all WaSH solutions are suited to all climate conditions , so health outcome improvements are not always sustained under changing climate impacts  . As such, WaSH infrastructure also needs to be climate- resilient . In addition to new WaSH infrastructure design and implementation, expansion and replacement of existing infrastructure offer opportunities to implement climate- resilient designs and reduce greenhouse emissions  .
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report