Human waste may be a topic that people generally do not or prefer not to think about. However, its capture and disposal (often referred to in terms of sanitation) play a vital role in human health and development. The importance of sanitation as a basic human need has made it an international development priority and a key target in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Even though since 1990 the percent of the global population with access to improved sanitation has increased (see Figure 1.), lack of improved sanitation still threatens human health and development particularly in developing regions of the world.
At present nearly 40 percent of the world’s population, 2.5 billion people, still have no access to basic sanitation. This post looks at some of the current challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
In 2006, only 60 percent of the world population had access to improved sanitation. The vast majority of those without access reside in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa where the regional access rates fall as low as 53 percent and 31 percent respectively as highlighted in Figure 2.
Figure 3 displays this information in reference to urban and rural locations in 2006.
The United Nations estimates that 1.4 billion more people throughout the world will require access to improved sanitation by 2015. The graph below, in Figure 4, shows this challenge will be most faced in Africa and Asia.
Span of Public Defecation
Poor access to sanitation leaves people few options for eliminating their human excrement. The result is often public defecation. According to the latest report on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 18 percent of the world population defecates in the open public. That is roughly 1.2 billion people out of the already 2.5 billion people in developing countries without access to basic sanitation. Populations practicing open defecation are given in Figure 5.
Practicing open defecation due to poor sanitation afflicts individuals and communities with diarrhea, hepatitis-causing pathogens, cholera, as well as other tainted water related illnesses. Sixty-five percent of the population practicing open defecation, 779 million people, resides in southern Asia with a further 221 million living in sub-Saharan Africa. In India alone there is an estimated 100,000 tons of human waste left each day in agricultural fields, public waterways used for drinking and bathing, and along roads because of poor access to sanitation. Unfortunately, this number is expected to increase with further population growth.
Impact on Health
In 1958, Wagner and Lanoix first developed a multiple route fecal to oral disease transmission graph known as the F-Diagram as shown in Figure 6.
It should come as no surprise, then, that countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and India report high incidences of public health deterioration due to open defecation and, more broadly, poor sanitation. UNICEF reports that in Bangladesh, diarrhea due to poor sanitation causes many children, particularly females for weeks at a time, to miss multiple school days. REPUBLICA notes that studies from the Central Department of Statistics in Nepal have identified open defecation as one of the key claims for a cholera breakout which has “claimed around 400 lives.” In India, 1,000 children younger than 5 years old die daily from sanitation-related diseases, according to BLOOMBERG.
Global Initiatives
Fortunately, there are international efforts like The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) that are helping people gain access to improved sanitation services. One such program is the Global Scaling Up Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and WSP. The goal of this program is “to generate sanitation demand and strengthen the supply of sanitation products and services at scale, leading to improved health for people.” Tanzania, India and Indonesia are the current test locations for this project. This project, which is currently focused in rural areas, is one example of progress toward improved access to sanitation and the Millennium Development Goal of bringing improved sanitation to 2.5 billion more people by 2015.
Conclusion
Support and education of programs like this are important for ensuring access to improved sanitation. Program success is even more imperative. With improved access to sanitation comes opportunities for better access to education for children, decreased instances of water related diseases, and cleaner water supplies. These factors together are critical for helping to uphold quality human involvement in social and economic development, particularly in developing regions of the world.
EarthTrends Data:
Water and Sanitation: Access to improved sanitation
Water and Sanitation: Rural access to improved sanitation
Water and Sanitation: Urban access to improved sanitation
Additional Sources:
WSP Global Scaling Up Project, Sanifoam Report
WSP Global Scaling Up Project, Annual Progress Report
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