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Basic water and sanitation are now seen as important human rights and as necessary for health and development:

The United Nations has set Millennium Development Goals in various areas including poverty, education, maternal health and environmental sustainability. The goal for water and sanitation is to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015.
In 2007 The IMF produced the Zambia Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
A powerful article by the editors of PLOS Medicine on the right to clean water.
An article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 6, Issue 10, Page 615, October 2006 entitled Watching The World Wash Its Hands Of Sanitation argues that drugs can reduce infections but goes on to say “The importance of access to safe water and basic sanitation needs to be recognised by the health, environment, and education sectors more prominently. Taking a more cross-sectoral approach will raise the profile of water and sanitation, and encourage primary investment that will contribute to the overall health and well-being of the community.”

On 14th October 2009 the Zambian Economist released this comment ahead of the 2010 budget: "The success of every budget is not only measured by how well it will improve the economy but also how responsive it will be to the needs of the poor. Growth should therefore be treated as a means to an end and not an end in itself."
A study conducted by Zambia’s Ministry of Health and supported by Operation Eyesight found that trachoma was 28 per cent more likely to strike in households that do not have proper toilet facilities. Read more>>
A study in India by Duke University researchers showed that naming and shaming can be a more effective strategy for latrine building than offering financial incentives.
The second annual Global Handwashing Day was celebrated on October 15th 2009. More than 80 countries took part.
A world toilet day is organised each year by the World Toilet Organization.