SIR - WaterAid believes that this year is a unique opportunity for WaterAid campaigners to highlight the crisis of 2.6 billion people without sanitation throughout the world which can result in illness, unemployment, no education, and in many cases death.

By supporting the End Water Poverty Campaign, of which WaterAid is co-founder, WaterAid aims to make the world sit up and take notice of this crisis, putting public pressure on governments to make an extraordinary effort to end this appalling situation.

WaterAid now has cards available for anyone to obtain and sign so that they can be considered by the G8 leaders at this summer's conference in Japan, to agree a global action plan for sanitation.

WaterAid has also produced a campaign pack to help raise public awareness of the extent and prevalence of dirty water so the public can take action themselves.

Both the cards and the pack are available from WaterAid on 0207 7934536.

In the developed world we are fortunate that we can obtain water for drinking, cooking and washing at the turn of the tap, whereas in the developing world millions of people cannot find water at all or, if they do, it is contaminated causing many diseases and very often death.

Donations can be made directly to WaterAid at 47-49 Durham Street, London SE11 5JD.

John H Munro, Cryer Meadows, Lees Lane, Haworth