“Ambition & Action ” Needed to End Open Defecation

Women village councilors in Penakota, a village in southeast India, go out into a field to relieve themselves, as there are no toilets in their workplace. Credit: Stella Paul/IPSBy Will HigginbothamUNITED NATIONS, Nov 27 2017 (IPS)What would life be like without access to a toilet? What if our waste was not properly disposed of?For those in the developed world, such questions are hard to fathom, but for 2.3 billion people around the world it’s a reality. Without access to a toilet many are forced to defecate in the open, significantly increasing the changes of spreading diseases.The sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG’s) include a pledge that aims to provide everyone with access to toilets and improved sanitation services by 2030.“It is possible to reach these targets, we all share the vision of the SDG 6 and we know there has been considerable progress made already.”“However, meeting the target will require a step-change in our ambition and action,” says WaterAid UK’s Tim Wainwright.So far progress has been made. According to the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF, in the last 15 years alone, some 371 million people moved out of open defecation – about 25 million people per year.With improved access to toilets and sanitation systems that properly manage waste, WHO estimate that up to 842,000 deaths could be avoided each year.Improvements such as this have been in part due to the efforts of agencies such as UNICEF and charities like Water Aid. Both are comm...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Gender Global Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Water & Sanitation Source Type: news