Toilets in the Stream

Mar 27th, 2009 2:14 PM UTC
By ONE Partners

This terrible irony just occurred to me at the World Water Forum this week: in the United States, we flush our toilets with drinking water, while 2.5 billion people around the world who live without access to proper sanitation literally have the toilet in their drinking water.

If you’ve ever seen a picture of a hanging toilet (a basic latrine constructed over a river or stream) you’ll understand exactly what I mean. If you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to see one. Click here.

In countries where access to sanitation is low—for example Angola, India and Yemen—the health care costs to treat sanitation-related diseases like diarrhea can eat up 20% of a household’s income, according to Jack Moss from AquaFed.

Globally, 1.5 million child deaths are attributed to the lack of access to sanitation. Most developing countries are far behind meeting their millennium development goal (MDG) targets for sanitation.

I tried to understand why more wasn’t being done to address the sanitation crisis while I listened to presentations at the World Water Forum.

One of the participants, Edmund Cain, from the Hilton Foundation pointed to the fact that people in developed countries like the U.S. fail to understand the seriousness of the problem. Another forum participant, Vandana Mehra from the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, highlighted how difficult it is to change the mindset of people who are used to doing some things a certain way, such as defecating in the open. Other challenges mentioned were the lack of demand and availability for sanitation products like soap and toilets, and the low priority developing countries place on sanitation programs.

Still, some countries, like Thailand and Malaysia, have succeeded in greatly increasing their populations’ access to sanitation. John Pasch from USAID highlighted an ongoing study of what led to Thailand and Malaysia’s success in hopes that other countries can learn from their experience.

Small businesses and NGOs involved in sanitation work are growing. For example, David Kuria’s toilet business in Nairobi and Wherever the Need (directed by David Crossweller) have been successful and are now expanding.

Thankfully, “Keeping Sanitation High on the Agenda” was not only the title of a major session – it also seemed to be a major theme of the Forum. I heard journalists conducting many interviews on the issue. Author Rose George, who wrote a book last year on sanitation, presented on several panels.

As I reflect on the week, I am hopeful that many of the challenges I heard discussed can be overcome. Though I believe it will take millions more people across the globe to get involved at different levels. What will you do?

-John Sauer, Water Advocates

TAGS: From Our Partners, Water Advocates, Water and Sanitation