Tag Archives: hygiene

World Toilet Day: Putting an End to a Crappy Problem

Global Development, Global Health, Public Health, Water and Sanitation, , , , , , , ,

Blog post courtesy of Eileen Burke, Director of Media and Communications at Save the Children.

For Sarita, age 15, going to the bathroom during school used to bring fears of being bitten by a snake or embarrassment of having people see her going out in the open.

“The surrounding area of the school has poor sanitation,” explained Surya Prasad Bhatta, a teacher at Chaudyal Lower Secondary School in Kailali District of Nepal, where Sarita is a student. “The students would usually have to go on the river bank or in the jungle due to lack of toilets.  It was difficult for them.”

Sarita’s story is all too common among school-age children in developing countries.  Many children have limited or no access to a bathroom during the school day. According to UNICEF, nearly two out of three schools in poor countries lack adequate sanitation.

School-age girls like Sarita, especially those who have reached puberty, are vulnerable to missing school or dropping out when there are no private and safe toilets available.

Save the Children will join with other organizations around the world to draw attention to the global sanitation crisis on Friday, Nov. 19, World Toilet Day,. It is part of the global humanitarian organization’s effort to help children stay healthy and stay in school.

Want to get involved?  Here are some simple actions you can take on World Toilet Day:

As for Sarita, two years ago through a Save the Children-supported program the school built four new toilets for boys and four new toilets for girls.

“Things are different now,” said Sarita. “We use the toilet, and we don’t have to stand in long lines because we have enough of them.  There is privacy, and it is less time-consuming.”

Celebrating Global Handwashing Day

Global Health, Uncategorized, , , , , Erin Hohlfelder

Today at the Global Network, we’re busy celebrating Global Handwashing Day–a holiday that makes up in importance what it lacks in candy or costumes.  Global Handwashing Day focuses on children and schools, encouraging students around the world to wash their hands with soap.

Global Handwashing Day Logo, 2009

Global Handwashing Day Logo, 2009

To many of us in the developed world, save perhaps for germophobic mothers, Global Handwashing Day may seem silly or obsolete.  For others, the Day may only seem relevant in light of the recent H1N1 outbreak.  But for hundreds of millions of people in the developing world who lack basic water and sanitation infrastructure, handwashing with soap is a critical way to ward off disease that is often difficult to access.

As the Global Health Progress blog notes,  “Cholera, rotavirus infections, and other diarrheal diseases make up the second largest killer of children worldwide…[and] many of these deaths can be prevented by access to clean water and handwashing with soap.”  In addition to these infections, poor sanitation and hygiene directly contribute to a number of neglected tropical diseases, but fortunately simple improvements can reduce their immense burden.  In particular, the SAFE Strategy (Surgery, Antibiodics, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvements in water and sanitation access) for treatment of trachoma is an innovative, WHO-approved strategy that demonstrates how water access and hygiene efforts are critical to disease control.

Our charge to you, then, in honor of GHD 2009?  Go forth, wash your hands with soap, and read more about the Global Network’s efforts alongside collaborators such as the Inter-American Development Bank to integrate disease control advocacy with water, sanitation, and hygiene efforts.