World Toilet Day - WTD

The World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official UN day observed on November 19 every year. It is a global campaign to spread awareness globally on sanitation, hygiene and other related issues.

In 2015, globally, 2.4 billion people did not have access to sanitation facilities such as toilets. About 1 billion people practiced open defecation that leads to lack of safety and dignity for women and girls. It also leads to pollution of water resources such as rivers, lakes, ponds and drinking water wells.

Infection of diseases like Ebola, cholera, diarrhea, etc. is related to poor sanitation. Globally, one child dies every two minutes due to diarrhea.

According to the international charity organization WaterAid, 600 million urban people have to depend on crowded and filthy community toilets. About 100 million people in cities are forced to practice open defecation on railway tracks, roadsides open spaces because they do not have access to toilets.

According to WaterAid, the 10 countries with the most urban dwellers lacking access to safe toilets are India, China, Nigeria, Indonesia, Russia, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Ethiopia and Pakistan.

India has 157 million urban dwellers with no access to safe toilets, 41 million of whom defecate in the open. The Indian government has launched a national campaign named Swachh Bharat Abhiyan -Clean India Mission to alleviate the problem.

The second worst is China with 104 million people not having safe sanitation, though China constructs toilets faster than the requirement of toilets due to the migration of people to cities.

Access to basic toilets by 2030 is one of the sustainable development goals of the UN. All the UN member countries are committed to achieving the goal.