Updated: November 20, 2020 10:27:37 am
People pass by a public bath in Guwahati on Monday. (Express photo: Dasarath Deka)
The United Nations commemorates November 19 annually as World Toilet Day to raise awareness about access to hygienic toilets and the human costs of unsafe sanitation.
“World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation and is about taking action to address the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 : water and sanitation for all by 2030, “the UN website says.
World Toilet Day 2020
The annual event was adopted by the UN in 2013. This year, World Toilet Day focuses on sustainable sanitation and climate change.
According to UN Water, sustainable sanitation begins with a toilet that effectively captures human waste in a safe, accessible and dignified environment, which is then stored in a tank, which can later be emptied through a collection service or transported via pipelines. . The next stage is treatment and safe disposal.
Safe reuse of human waste helps to save water, reduces and captures greenhouse gas emissions for energy production, and can provide agriculture with a reliable source of water and nutrients.
According to UN figures, open defecation kills 1,000 children every day around the world from diarrhea related to poor sanitation and contaminated water sources. Safe sanitation, a water supply and better hygiene can save the lives of 3.5 lakhs of children in one year.
According to the website “Our World in Data”, part of the University of Oxford, “an estimated 775,000 people died prematurely as a result of poor sanitation in 2017.” This was 1.4% of global deaths. In low-income countries, it represents 5% of deaths, ”he says. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
The state of sanitation in India
The table below explains the annual number of deaths from risk factors in India. “Poor sanitation, unsafe water sources, and lack of access to hand-washing facilities” are among the main factors in the country; topping the list are high blood pressure, air pollution, high blood sugar and smoking.
The annual number of deaths from risk factors in India
The table below shows how the proportion of deaths due to unsafe sanitation has changed over the years. In India, this proportion has been higher than that of its neighbors such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Proportion of deaths from unsafe sanitation
The reason so many die from unsafe sanitation is that in India a large proportion of the population does not have access to “improved sanitation”. Improved sanitation is defined as facilities that “ensure the hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact.” This includes facilities such as discharge / discharge (to piped sewer system, septic tank, pit latrine), improved ventilated pit latrine (VIP), pit latrine with slab, and a composting toilet.
On World Toilet Day, India strengthens its resolve to # Toilet4All. The past few years have witnessed an unprecedented achievement in supplying millions of Indians with hygienic toilets. It has brought huge health benefits along with dignity, especially for our Nari Shakti.
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 19, 2020
In 2015, 68% of the world’s population had access to improved sanitation facilities. In other words, almost a third of the people did not have access.
In India, only 40% of the population had access to improved sanitation. This is much lower than its next-door neighbors such as Sri Lanka (95%) and Pakistan and Bangladesh (both more than 60%). With 40% access, India is paired with countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya, and is below countries like Zambia and Senegal.
The economic impact of poor sanitation
According to the World Bank: “Lack of sanitation also slows economic growth. Poor sanitation costs billions for some countries ”.
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In the case of India, the most cited study is one by the World Bank from 2006, when such costs were set at $ 53.8 billion or 6.4% of India’s annual GDP. Even if this percentage (of GDP) has remained the same, at current GDP, the losses (a rough approximation) would be close to $ 170 billion (or Rs 12 lakh crore).
“The economic losses are mainly due to premature deaths, the cost of health treatment, the loss of time and productivity in seeking treatment, and the loss of time and productivity in finding access to sanitation facilities,” according to the World Bank.
According to the World Health Organization, “Every dollar spent on sanitation generates about $ 9 in savings on treatment, healthcare costs, and earnings from more productive days.”
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