Happy World Toilet Day!
I’m a massive fan of The West Wing. It’s fair to say it’s what got me interested in politics and I still regularly get out the DVDs and watch a few episodes. In the final series, CJ Cregg, Chief of Staff, gets offered a job.
That scene has always stuck with me, and though the series ended eight years ago, those words “blanket the continent with highways and then maybe get started on the plumbing” are as true today as they were then. But the problem is that it’s not sexy and there is little funding for these things. While Ebola (quite rightly) catches the headlines, the numbers that have died from the disease are dwarfed by the number of people who die each week from poor sanitation. The CDC reports that,
“Water, sanitation and hygiene has the potential to prevent at least 9.1% of the global disease burden and 6.3% of all deaths. The impact of clean water technologies on public health in the U.S. is estimated to have had a rate of return of 23 to 1 for investments in water filtration and chlorination during the first half of the 20th century.”
It’s easy to forget that for one in three people in the world, access to a toilet is a luxury they can barely dream of. We have clean, private bathrooms that we can access whenever we’re at home, and when we are out many cafés and shopping centres have, if not clean, then at least private and usable facilities. The most we can generally complain about is there not being toilet paper or someone not putting the seat down.
This fascinating photo series shows the range of facilities available to people around the world. Some are familiar, those in Japan seem almost futuristic, but it is those in places like Bangladesh, Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia that really startle. People have to defecate in outside toilets or simply in fields. It’s hard to believe in the 21st century that there are still billions of people who have to do this.
As with so many things, there are unintended consequences. The most obvious unintended consequence is that of disease. Unprocessed sewage mixing with drinking water is never a good thing. Hanging toilets, like those seen in Slumdog Millionaire are often rickety and falling in is a real possibility, as Sukurbanu describes in the BBC photo series.
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| From www.water.org |
Another unintended consequence is that of time loss. When there is limited access to facilities, waiting to use them becomes a time-consuming activity. This wait can also mean that people find alternatives, such as defecating close to their house, encouraging the spread of diseases.
But the most unexpected of the unintended consequences that of the effect on women. When you go to the bathroom almost everyone wants privacy, For women this is especially important as many of the societies lacking toilet facilities are also those where women are most vulnerable. In India women face rape and even murder in their quest for a quite place to relieve themselves. Additionally, once girls have reached puberty, access to private facilities during menstruation is crucial, especially in cultures where such things are seen as ‘unclean’. The lack of facilities at schools means many girls see no choice but to drop out of school during their periods or all together.
“This has long-term impacts on women’s health, education, livelihoods and safety but it also impacts the economy, as failing to provide for the sanitation needs of women ultimately risks excluding half of the potential workforce.”
Luckily the importance of good sanitation is slowly being recognised and addressed. In 2001 the World Toilet Organisation was established, heralded by the first ever World Toilet Summit. In 2013 the first ever World Toilet Day was held on the 19th November, a day to raise awareness of the problems surrounding access to good sanitation for so many of the world’s population.
Plumbing is not sexy. But it is vital. Good plumbing prevents disease; but more than that, it improves lives. Women do not have to fear for their lives every time they need to go, allows children to stay in school, adults to stay in work and helps improve economies. Not bad for the smallest room in the house.
If what I’ve written has inspired you to find out more, please look at the UN’s site on World Toilet Day and the World Toilet Organisation. If you’re feeling flush (pun accidental but I’m keeping it!) then please consider donating to this worthy cause.
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