"Sanitation Matters"

“Sanitation Matters”
By Marion Geiger



BOSTON—Six in 10 Africans are without access to a proper toilet, according to the March 20 press release by World Health Organization and UNICEF. The results were released as part of World Water Day 2008, which is concerned with “Sanitation Matters,” their motto.

Improper sanitation, the lack of toilets and the lack of ways to wash hands with soap, puts millions at risk for many diseases. Without water and soap to wash up, bacteria and viruses can more easily transfer from person to person.

Without toilets, parasites in human excreta can contaminate food, water and soil. Consequently, people can develop diarrhea, which is, according to a UNICEF press release, “the second-biggest killer of children in developing countries, and leads to other major diseases such as cholera.”

World Water Day 2008 aims to underscore the 2.6 billion people around the globe who are subject to varied health risks because of a lack of a toilet in their homes. WHO and UNICEF estimate that if there is no added attention to sanitation improvements, then in 2015 about 2.4 billion people will still be deprived of their basic sanitary needs.

The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation expresses the belief that simple domestic improvements in sanitation can change many other factors in the lives of each family.

Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of WHO, said, “sanitation matters because a toilet at home spares a family from illness, health care expenses and time lost from work and school.”

Another sanitation concern involves safety. “Safety issues are particularly important for women and children, who otherwise risk sexual harassment and assault when defecating at night and in secluded areas,” said the press release. In addition, schools that do not have the needed sanitary facilities showed difficulty in attracting and retaining students. UNICEF’s communication office said, “Where such facilities are not available, girls are often withdrawn from school when they reach puberty.”

“The focus on sanitation is fundamental to human beings” said Pasquale Steduto, UN-Water chairman. “The U.N. Millennium Development Goals target on sanitation is seriously lagging behind schedule. The entire U.N. system has a shared responsibility in mobilizing concrete actions towards its achievement: investments must increase immediately.”