World Toilet Day
Saturday 19
November 2011
It's ten years since the first World Toilet Day
and there are still 2.6 billion people with nowhere safe, private or hygienic
to go to the toilet.
Readers of the British Medical Journal voted
sanitation the single greatest medical advance of the last 150 years.
Yet diarrhoea still kills a child every 20
seconds. In fact, diarrhoea kills more children every year than AIDS,
malaria and measles combined.
WHY?
19 November is World Toilet Day. But why, when every day seems to be given a name - be it Cat Day, Cuddle Day or even Doughnut Day - is World Toilet Day important?
Well, for one, the average person spends three years of their life on the loo - so there is plenty of time to think about it! But, while it is easy to laugh about toilets, or rather the lack of them, it is a very serious issue.
Two and a half billion people live without a clean or private place to go to the toilet.
This means that nearly 40% of the world's population have to use fields, streams, rivers, railway lines, canal banks, roadsides, plastic bags, or squalid, foul smelling, disease breeding buckets and unsanitary latrines.
When you consider that just one gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, one thousand parasite cysts and one hundred worm eggs, it is easy to see how without proper disposal, human waste can contaminate water and food, and how this causes disease.
Well, for one, the average person spends three years of their life on the loo - so there is plenty of time to think about it! But, while it is easy to laugh about toilets, or rather the lack of them, it is a very serious issue.
Two and a half billion people live without a clean or private place to go to the toilet.
This means that nearly 40% of the world's population have to use fields, streams, rivers, railway lines, canal banks, roadsides, plastic bags, or squalid, foul smelling, disease breeding buckets and unsanitary latrines.
When you consider that just one gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, one thousand parasite cysts and one hundred worm eggs, it is easy to see how without proper disposal, human waste can contaminate water and food, and how this causes disease.
According to the Water and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) the majority of illness in the world is caused by fecal matter. And it is these illnesses which lead to malnutrition.
Frequent illnesses, especially diarrhea, undermine a child's growth, as WSSCC states: "Disease takes away appetite, inhibits the absorption of nutrients, burns up calories in fever and fighting infection, and drains away nutrients in vomiting and diarrhea."
But the solution isn't rocket science. All that is needed is decent sanitation along with good hygiene and a safe, clean supply of water. Is that really too much to ask?
By supporting WaterAid you are already helping us to change lives. But so much more needs to be done. This World Toilet Day we are holding a range of activities to help even more people.
So, on 19 November, why not get involved and help ensure more of the world's poorest people gain access to one of life's most basic needs - a safe and clean place to go to the loo.
Frequent illnesses, especially diarrhea, undermine a child's growth, as WSSCC states: "Disease takes away appetite, inhibits the absorption of nutrients, burns up calories in fever and fighting infection, and drains away nutrients in vomiting and diarrhea."
But the solution isn't rocket science. All that is needed is decent sanitation along with good hygiene and a safe, clean supply of water. Is that really too much to ask?
By supporting WaterAid you are already helping us to change lives. But so much more needs to be done. This World Toilet Day we are holding a range of activities to help even more people.
So, on 19 November, why not get involved and help ensure more of the world's poorest people gain access to one of life's most basic needs - a safe and clean place to go to the loo.
Go to WaterAid to find out how to help. You will also find some games and helpful information for yourself
Source: WaterAid
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