Johri, Mira, Dinesh Chandra, S V Subramanian, Marie-Pierre Sylvestre, and Smriti Pahwa. “MDG 7c for Safe Drinking Water in India: An Illusive Achievement.” The Lancet 383, no. 9926 (April 19, 2014): 1379. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60673-5

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URL: www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2960673-5/fulltext

Johri et al. argue that the current Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for safe drinking water needs to be revised to redefine what constitutes “safe” drinking water to include water quality. The authors cite evidence from cross-sectional surveys of almost 2000 households in India demonstrating that although over 97 % of households surveyed had access to safe drinking water as defined by the MDG, the water in 40-60% of these same households was contaminated by feces, presenting a grave public health challenge.