World Toilet Day

Nov 19th, 2008 3:15 PM UTC
By Chris Scott

Did you know that today is World Toilet Day? Of course you did. And while this may seem a bit silly at first, it’s worth remembering how many lives are lost due to water and sanitation-related diseases each year—as many as 2 million, in fact.

Here are some other fast facts to keep in mind, as we commemorate World Toilet Day:

• 6 in every 10 Africans lack access to a proper toilet.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, 322 million people lack access to clean water and 463 million people lack access to adequate sanitation.
• Together, unclean water and poor sanitation are a leading cause of child mortality: an estimated 5,000 children die daily from diarrhea, which is spread through poor sanitation and poor hygiene. Universal access to improved sanitation could reduce diarrhea-related morbidity by more than a third.
• Studies have found that about half of girls who drop out of primary school in sub-Saharan Africa do so because of a lack of separate toilets and easy access to safe water.

So have a chuckle if you’d like, but remember to be especially grateful if you’re blessed with proper and clean sanitation today—because many people, unfortunately, are not. You can find more articles about World Toilet Day here, here, and here.

-Chris Scott

TAGS: Policy News, Sanitation, Water and Sanitation