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Lack of toilets is fatal, World Toilet Association says
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| Flotser |
http://www.reuters.com/article/late...s/idUSSEO299724
| quote: | Lack of toilets is fatal, global association says
Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:37am EST
By Jack Kim
SEOUL, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Lack of proper toilet facilities and sanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of them children, the World Toilet Association said at its first meeting on Thursday.
"It is regrettable that the matter of defecation is not given as much attention as food or housing," Sim Jae-duck, the association's South Korean head, told the meeting at its recently opened lavatory-shaped headquarters south of Seoul.
Sim, a lawmaker nicknamed "Mr. Toilet", said some 2.6 billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toilet facilities, with potentially fatal consequences.
About 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases that are mainly blamed on inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, the World Health Organisation's regional director for the Western Pacific, Shigeru Omi, told the meeting.
The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and 90 percent of the fatalities are children under the age of five, he added.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could be saved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation and hygiene," Omi told the meeting.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the "Year of Sanitation" and is calling for a renewed effort to improve sanitation and hygiene facilities, especially in developing countries.
Several charities also marked World Toilet Day on Monday by launching international campaigns for more hygiene awareness and investments in toilet facilities.
The Seoul meeting, which brought together public health officials from around the world and U.N. agencies, aims to raise funds for sanitation in developing countries.
"The funding needed is not overwhelmingly large, but the return is immense," said Vanessa Tobin of U.N. children's agency UNICEF. "Political support is extremely important. Advocacy for this issue is a high priority."
According to the United Nations, spending $10 billion a year could halve the proportion of people without basic toilet facitilies by 2015, and Tobin said this investment would net an estimated $84 billion in savings from improved public health and better living conditions. |
You guys had an idea there is a "World Toilet Association" ???
:stongue:
I think I finally know what i wanna be when i grow up :wtf:
I know the issue is serious but i just couldn't help it... sorry |
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| Magnetonium |
:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:
My momma always said, never where you eat, boy ... I guess a lot of people do, in developing countries at least :conf:
I think sanitation and lack of good hygiene is a bigger issue here, especially the latter, not a lack of toilets. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnetonium
My momma always said, never where you eat, boy ... |
:stongue: :stongue: :stongue:
Just the fact that she felt she needed to tell you that makes me laugh! |
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| Omega_M |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Just the fact that she felt she needed to tell you that makes me laugh! |
:stongue: |
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| LazFX |
I came home today from holiday and found that my cats were trapped in the bathroom for at least one day.....
besides the toilet paper torn to shreds and the few s on the floor, the toilet had several cat droppings in it!!!!
Freaky!!!
:nervous: |
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| Magnetonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
:stongue: :stongue: :stongue:
Just the fact that she felt she needed to tell you that makes me laugh! |
Hah, its just a joke ... my mother does not follow politics ;) she could hardly care if there are toilets in Third World countries or not. She doesnt even know what UNICEF is or what the UN does. |
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| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnetonium
Hah, its just a joke ... my mother does not follow politics ;) she could hardly care if there are toilets in Third World countries or not. She doesnt even know what UNICEF is or what the UN does. |
Yes, but my question is: when you were a kid, why did your mother have to remind you not to where you eat? Was that a bad habit of yours?
:stongue: |
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| Omega_M |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnetonium
... my mother does not follow politics ;) |
Neither did you, when you were a kid. Which leads us to only one conclusion. :stongue: |
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| Magnetonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by Omega_M
Neither did you, when you were a kid. Which leads us to only one conclusion. :stongue: |
I always followed politics. It was very traumatic for me living in the years 1991-1992 in Soviet Union-Russia, when I was about 8 years old. I saw the whole destructive Soviet Union transition to Russia unfold in front of my eyes and you cant get any more political than that. Since then I've been always heavy into politics. It plays a huge role in people's lives, whether people notice it or not ... but I did, and always do. Always.
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Yes, but my question is: when you were a kid, why did your mother have to remind you not to where you eat? Was that a bad habit of yours?
:stongue: |
In Soviet Russia ... :stongue:
Let's just say that Russian folklore is very very deep and thorough. We have many quotes, sayings and interpretations ... and "dont where you eat" is one of them. My personal favourite when I was very young was "Don't have 100 roubles, better have 100 friends" (Ne imey sto rubley, a imey sto druzey).
But I never needed my mother to tell me anything because she wasnt there for the crucial time of my life. My bad habits? Well, politics, music, books and girls, have been my bad habits for quite some time ;-) I have very high standards of hygiene, btw
;) |
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