Flush away world sanitation crisis

JOIN the world in celebrating World Toilet Day on Saturday, 19 November to promote awareness and inspire the world to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

This year’s theme for World Toilet Day is Toilets and Jobs. “The main purpose of the toilet is to provide a barrier to disease and pollution. Despite the importance of sanitation, the developing world still struggles with providing sanitation in comparison to other basic services. It is little wonder then that sanitation is called the ‘Cinderella’ of basic services – it’s more hidden and less well-known than drinking water supply – yet equally as important,” said Dr Sudhir Pillay, the Research Manager responsible for Sanitation at the Water Research Commission.

In 2012, the WHO/UNICEF reported that there were 644 million people in sub-Saharan Africa using an unimproved toilet facility or having to resort to open defecation. “For this reason, World Toilet Day is celebrated across the world – it’s not only to break the taboo about toilets and poop, but also to raise awareness of the challenges facing the developing world,” said Dr Sudhir.

“You may ask yourself what jobs are there for toilets. Surely it must be care-taking services and plumbing, both of which are critical to maintaining community health through the maintenance and provision of clean facilities. There are other jobs linked to sanitation, with businesses centred around providing sanitation services across the value chain, from providing new toilets to converting faecal waste into beneficial products, like charcoal substitutes, which potentially hold a monetary value.”