2.3 Billion People Globally Have No Access To Toilet Facilities

The world will not reach the goal of universal sanitation coverage where every person in the world has access to toilets that safely contain excreta unless countries make comprehensive policy shifts and invest more funds, WHO has warned.

By adopting WHO’s new guidelines, countries can significantly reduce the 829 000 annual diarrhoeal deaths due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

For every US$ invested in sanitation, WHO estimates a nearly six-fold return as measured by lower health costs, increased productivity and fewer premature deaths.

Worldwide, 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation. They are among the 4.5 billion that are without access to safely managed sanitation services.

“Without proper access, millions of people the world over are deprived of the dignity, safety, and convenience of a decent toilet,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Deputy Director-General for Programs WHO. 

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan noted that sanitation was a fundamental foundation of human health and development and that it underpins the core mission of WHO and ministries of health worldwide adding that WHO’s Sanitation and Health Guidelines were essential to securing health and wellbeing for everyone, everywhere.

Billions of people live without access to even the most basic sanitation services. The transmission of a host of diseases, including cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, is linked to dirty water and inadequately treated sewage.

Poor sanitation is also a major factor in the transmission of neglected tropical diseases such as intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, and trachoma, as well as contributing to malnutrition.

Kenya lags behind her neighbors in the number of people defecating in the open, with 5.6 million people not using toilets, according to a UNICEF report. This figure is 12 percent of the total population. Uganda comes a close second with 11 percent while Tanzania has done better with only 6 percent.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), most open defecation takes place among the rural population. This stands at 15 percent, compared to three percent for the urban population.

In rural areas, these people defecate in the bushes, while in urban areas, open defecation is a burden in the slums.

This is a big problem, because at least 29.9 percent of children aged below five have moderately stunted growth, with another 13 percent underweight because they do not get sufficient nutrients for optimal physical and mental development, according to the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey for 2015/16.

Only 13 percent (8,378) of villages in Kenya have been certified to be open defecation free out of 68,362 villages, but this is an improvement as only 8 percent of villages had this status in 2016, according to the Ministry of Health.