So why do we need toilets?

Abstract

Whether you call it a water closet, a lavatory or a loo, while we don’t always like talking about them we cannot deny the importance of toilets in our lives. Access to safe sanitation is one of the cornerstones to a healthy life. Toilets are so important to us, in fact, that they even have their own dedicated day. World Toilet Day is celebrated every year on 19 November to raise awareness of the importance of safe sanitation and of the plight of the 2,6 billion people around the world who still lack access to this important human right. Lack of sanitation facilities forces people to defecate in the open, in rivers or near areas where children play or food is prepared. This increases the risk of transmitting disease. Children are hardest hit by a lack of access to safe toilet facilities. Every year, an estimated 1,5 million children die in Africa under the age of five as a result of diarrhoea – a disease caused by inadequate sanitation and water. This disease kills more young children every year than HIV/ AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

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