Happy World Toilet Day!

We haven't started potty training the wee man yet, but we are priviliged to live in a part of the world where sanitation is clean, effective and easy (at least most of the time). Many others are not so foturnate.

November 19th is World Toilet Day. A day to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.6 billion people (nearly half of the world's population) who don't have access to toilets and proper sanitation.

According to the WTO (World Toilet Organization):

2.6 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, mostly children, a year.

Diarrheal diseases kill five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS. That's 5,000 children DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Not only that, but the disease kills more children than either malaria or AIDS, stunts growth, and forces millions - adults and children alike - to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits both a country's economy and its citizens' chances of a better future. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.

Lack of sanitation is the world's biggest cause of infection.

One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.

Safe disposal of children's feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.

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