Dr. Francis SANWO              

World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year. It’s all about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030. A toilet is not just a toilet. It’s a life-saver, dignity-protector and opportunity-maker.  We must expand access to toilets and leave no one behind. Because whoever you are, wherever you are, sanitation is your human right.

Key Facts (WHO).

In 2017, 45% of the global population (3.4 billion people) used a safely managed sanitation service.

14% of the global population (1.0 billion people) used toilets or latrines where excreta were disposed of in situ.

2.0 billion people still do not have basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines.

Of these, 673 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.

Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio and exacerbates stunting.

Poor sanitation reduces human well-being, social and economic development due to impacts such as anxiety, risk of sexual assault, and lost educational opportunities.

Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432 000 diarrhoeal deaths annually and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. Poor sanitation also contributes to malnutrition.

In 2010, the UN General Assembly recognized access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right, and called for international efforts to help countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation. 

Sanitation and Health

Some 827,000 people in low- and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total diarrhoeal deaths. Poor sanitation is believed to be the main cause in some 432,000 of these deaths.

Diarrhoea remains a major killer but is largely preventable. Better water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent the deaths of 297,000 children aged under 5 years each year.

Open defecation perpetuates a vicious cycle of disease and poverty. The countries where open defection is most widespread have the highest number of deaths of children aged under 5 years as well as the highest levels of malnutrition and poverty, and big disparities of wealth.

Benefits of Improving Sanitation

Benefits of improved sanitation extend well beyond reducing the risk of diarrhoea. These include: reducing the spread of intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma, which are neglected tropical diseases that cause suffering for millions; reducing the severity and impact of malnutrition; promoting dignity and boosting safety, particularly among women and girls; promoting school attendance: girls’ school attendance is particularly boosted by the provision of separate sanitary facilities; and potential recovery of water, renewable energy and nutrients from faecal waste.

Challenges

Achieving universal access to a basic drinking water source appears within reach, but universal access to basic sanitation will require additional efforts.

The situation of the urban poor poses a growing challenge as they live increasingly in mega cities where sewerage is precarious or non-existent and space for toilets and removal of waste is at a premium. Inequalities in access are compounded when sewage removed from wealthier households is discharged into storm drains, waterways or landfills, polluting poor residential areas.

Limited data available on this topic suggests that a large proportion of wastewater in developing countries is discharged partially treated or untreated directly into rivers, lakes or the ocean.

Wastewater is increasingly seen as a resource providing reliable water and nutrients for food production to feed growing urban populations. Yet this requires: management practices that ensure wastewater is sufficiently treated and safely reused; institutional oversight and regulation; and public education campaigns to inform people about wastewater us.                                                                 

LACK OF TOILET COST LIFE.