World Toilet Day…
A day all about toilets may seem quite odd. After all, many of us take access to toilets for granted.
But for many millions of people around the world toilets are a luxury. A shocking 2.3 billion people – one in three of the world’s population – do not have access to a safe, private place to go to the toilet. One child dies every 17 seconds due to lack of sanitation, unclean water
and poor hygiene.
An estimated 600 million people in India alone defecate in the open, which infringes on human safety and dignity. Women and girls risk rape and abuse as they wait until night falls to relieve themselves because they lack access to a toilet that offers privacy. Another issue is that toilets generally remain inadequate for populations with special needs, such as the disabled and elderly. Therefore, the burden of poor sanitation falls disproportionately on women, children, and the disabled and elderly.
A proper hand-washing technique with soap is the single most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrhea.
Today on World Toilet Day, we must raise awareness about all people who do not have access to a toilet – despite the human right to water and sanitation. It is a day to do something about it.
Please make a personal pledge.
Resolve to take the message of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) to your congregations and communities, embracing the spirit of this campaign so that homes across the world have improved access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in order to save millions of children and families from death, diseases and stunting.
Initiate a WASH Project in your community.
Create awareness of hand washing techniques with soap. This simple activity could save more lives than any vaccine or medical intervention, preventing the spread of infection and keeping children in school. Educate and motivate children to embrace and share proper hygiene practices.
Share your experiences and spread the word.
Utilize social media to raise awareness of sustainable sanitation. Let us adopt a successful plan in another part of the world and share resources.
Maintain cleanliness of our toilets.
Those of us who are fortunate to have access to toilets can ensure that we always flush the toilet with the toilet lid down in order to reduce the spread of bacteria in the room. We air the toilet to reduce the level of humidity in the room, check that the ventilation system is working properly, and that we clean the toilet daily with a product specifically designed to reduce
the spread of bacteria such as:
- E.Coli
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Staphylococus aureus
- Salmonella
- Enterobacter
- Listeria
