Pakistan, Oct. 4 -- At a recent briefing with the World Bank, Sindh's Chief Minister laid bare a devastating truth: more than 90 per cent of rural households in his province rely on unsafe wells. That figure is staggering, but it mirrors what is happening across Pakistan. From Balochistan's parched settlements to Punjab's canal colonies, villages survive on water that carries disease more often than health.

The evidence has been with us for years. WHO and UNICEF surveys confirm that fewer than half of rural Pakistanis have access to safely managed drinking water. The result: diarrhoea, hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, all still entrenched in our epidemiological map. Diarrhoeal infections remain among the leading killers of children under fiv...