CURRENTLY ON AIR ⇒
  • Sunday Splash, Annisa Essack
    Sunday, 8:05 am - 9:00 am
    [ - ]

feedback@radioislam.org.za

logo


((( Listen Live )))))
Radio Islam Logo


Why Should We Care

Ahead of World Toilet Day, the facts and figures of toilets (or improved sanitation) speak for themselves.

On 19 November we celebrate World Toilet Day. While we might take toilets for granted, billions in the world don’t. Toilets and all that is related—loosely called sanitation—play a hugely important role for all of us: not only in our daily lives as we spend time to relieve ourselves, but also for our sustainable, inclusive development. Toilets are crucial for the healthy development of people, not to mention children.

So is sanitation – facilities and services for safe disposal of human urine and faeces includes maintaining hygiene through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal. The overall purpose of good sanitation is to provide a healthy living environment for everyone, protect the natural resources such as surface water, groundwater, and soil, and provide safety, security and dignity for people when they defecate or urinate.

The facts and figures of toilets (or improved sanitation) from the World Sanitation Program, the World Health Organization (WHO) and WaterAid, among others, speak for themselves.

1. Today, 2.4 billion people or about one-third of the world’s population lack access to improved sanitation—facilities that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact—and 1 billion people still practice open defecation.

2. In 2012 the WHO estimated that the global economic return on sanitation spending is $5.5 for every dollar invested – nearly triple the $2 economic return on water spending.

3. Open defecation (the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes and forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using the toilet to defecate) is a leading cause of diarrheal death, says the WHO. The diarrhoea death toll stands at around 6,000 a day, mostly young children.

4. In South Asia alone, 1 billion people lack access to improved sanitation and 675 million practice open defecation, more than any other region in the world.

5. Half of global malnutrition cases are linked to chronic diarrhoea caused by lack of clean water, decent sanitation, and good hygiene, including hand washing with soap. The extent of the global stunting crisis and scarce access to clean water and decent toilets is having an enormous impact on the future of millions of children suffering from malnutrition.

6. Without improved sanitation facilities and awareness, the risks of infections or other illnesses from faecal sludge or wastewater are extremely high. Just 1 gram of faeces can contain 10 million viruses, 1 million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts, and 100 parasite eggs.

7. Hand-washing with soap after using the toilet is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia. This simple act can reduce the risk of diarrheal disease by up to 47%, but only if it’s done consistently. Research shows that globally less than one-fifth of people currently wash their hands properly at critical times, and only 19% of people wash their hands after using the toilet or changing a child’s diaper. Diarrhoea and pneumonia, two major illnesses that are transmitted this way, together kill an estimated 1.7 million children every year.

8. According to Target 2 of the Sustainable Development Goal no. 6 on sanitation, by 2030 we should achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. This makes sanitation a global development priority.

9. In India alone about 550 million people defecate in the open, which accounts for more than half of the people in the world who practice open defecation. Indians excrete close to 65,000 metric tons of faeces into the environment each day. This results in 188,000 annual deaths of children under five from diarrhoea. India loses 6.4% of GDP—$53.8 billion—due to poor sanitation on a yearly basis.

On World Toilet Day, we must raise awareness and inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis, a topic that is often neglected and shrouded in taboos. Today, 2.4 billion people are struggling to stay healthy, keep their children alive and work their way to a better future – all for the want of a toilet. Let’s change that.

ADVERTISE HERE

Prime Spot!!!

Contact:
advertisingadmin@radioislam.co.za 

Related Articles

What to Avoid and Takbeer-e-Tashreeq

What to Avoid and Takbeer-e-Tashreeq

The Sunnah indicates that the one who wants to offer a sacrifice must stop cutting his hair and nails and removing anything from his skin, from the beginning of the ten days until after he has offered his sacrifice, because the Prophet ﷺ said: سَمِعْتُ سَعِيدَ بْنَ...

read more
Dhul Hijjah

Dhul Hijjah

Specific Actions to do on these Blessed Days Performing Hajj and Umrah It is preferable for anyone who has already performed the obligatory Hajj and Umrah to again perform it as often as it is easy for him to do so, because of what has been mentioned (in the authentic...

read more
General actions to do on these Blessed Days

General actions to do on these Blessed Days

What are some of the Most Preferable Deeds that can be Performed during the First Ten Days of Dhil Hijjah? It is, as we have already mentioned, preferable to increase in doing all types of good deeds during the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah because of the superiority...

read more
Reasons for the Virtues

Reasons for the Virtues

It is important for us to know why has Allah attested such great virtues to these blessed days. The learned scholars explain that the virtue of these ten days is based on many things: Allah ﷻ Swears by it in the Holy Quran Allah ﷻ takes an oath upon things in order to...

read more
Dhul Hijjah

Dhul Hijjah

Virtues of the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah Praise be to Allah Who has created time and has made some times better than others, some months, days and nights better than others, a time when rewards are multiplied many fold, as a special mercy towards His obedient...

read more
Qurbani

Qurbani

Time for Qurbani عَنْ جُنْدَبِ بْنِ سُفْيَانَ، قَالَ شَهِدْتُ الأَضْحَى مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلَمَّا قَضَى صَلاَتَهُ بِالنَّاسِ نَظَرَ إِلَى غَنَمٍ قَدْ ذُبِحَتْ فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ مَنْ ذَبَحَ قَبْلَ الصَّلاَةِ فَلْيَذْبَحْ شَاةً مَكَانَهَا وَمَنْ لَمْ...

read more

Subscribe to our Newsletter

0 Comments