bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Toilets are still a luxury for a third of the world's people, who have no access to them, according to a report by the World Health Organisation and Unicef.
Those who make do without toilets continue to pollute water sources and jeopardise public health and safety for millions worldwide.
That contributes to malnutrition and childhood stunting, impairing 161 million children both physically and mentally every year.
"Until everyone has access to adequate sanitation facilities, the quality of water supplies will be undermined and too many people will continue to die from waterborne and water-related diseases," WHO's public health department director, Dr Maria Neira, said.
The joint report evaluates progress on global targets set in 2000 for giving everyone access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, along with other goals in areas such as poverty, hunger, disease and inequality.
With those benchmarks expiring this year, the United Nations is leading efforts to come up with a new set of "sustainable development goals" that are expected to focus on how some US$2.5 trillion in development funds will be spent through 2030.
Past efforts to improve water and sanitation have seen some success, with 2.1 billion people gaining access to better sanitation facilities since 1990, according to the report. Yet, another 2.4 billion people have seen no improvement, including 946 million people still relieving themselves outdoors - the vast majority among the rural poor.
India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people defecating in the open, and not necessarily due to a lack of facilities. Many men who have installed toilets at home still prefer going outdoors as they survey their farmlands or seek a few minutes of quiet.
While successive Indian governments have pledged to install toilets in every home, little has been done to educate people about the dangers of unsanitary practices. Meanwhile, diarrheal diseases kill 700,000 children every year, most of which could have been prevented with better sanitation. The Indian government needs to build 100 million toilets to provide everyone access, but it has recently slashed its sanitation budget in half.
"There is a kind of a feeling among politicians that if we ignore the problem it will go away," said Nitya Jacob, who leads policy for the Indian branch of the international charity WaterAid.
India is also a victim of its own population growth, with some 1.26 billion citizens now and counting. That "just wipes out any gains in sanitation, or on any development front", Jacob said.
The world has done better in giving more people access to clean drinking water, with 2.6 billion people getting improved access since 1990. Still, 663 million of the world's poorest have seen no improvement at all.


One-third of world's people still have no proper toilets

Indian men urinate on a wall at the roadside in New Delhi on the eve of World Toilet Day.  Photo: AFP

News

World

Those who make do without are polluting water and jeopardising health for millions
