Lack of toilets is fatal, global association says

Lack of toilets is fatal, global association says
A cubicle is seen at the Oxford Circus lavatories in London, May 20, 2005. 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. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters)SEOUL (Reuters) - Lack of proper toilet facilities andsanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of themchildren, the World Toilet Association said at its firstmeeting on Thursday.
"It is regrettable that the matter of defecation is notgiven as much attention as food or housing," Sim Jae-duck, theassociation's South Korean head, told the meeting at itsrecently opened lavatory-shaped headquarters south of Seoul.
Sim, a lawmaker nicknamed "Mr. Toilet," said some 2.6billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toiletfacilities, with potentially fatal consequences.
About 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhealdiseases that are mainly blamed on inadequate sanitation andpoor hygiene, the World Health Organisation's regional directorfor the Western Pacific, Shigeru Omi, told the meeting.
The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and 90 percentof the fatalities are children under the age of five, he added.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could besaved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation andhygiene," Omi told the meeting.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the "Year ofSanitation" and is calling for a renewed effort to improvesanitation and hygiene facilities, especially in developingcountries.
Several charities also marked World Toilet Day on Monday bylaunching international campaigns for more hygiene awarenessand investments in toilet facilities.
The Seoul meeting, which brought together public healthofficials from around the world and U.N. agencies, aims toraise funds for sanitation in developing countries.
"The funding needed is not overwhelmingly large, but thereturn is immense," said Vanessa Tobin of U.N. children'sagency UNICEF. "Political support is extremely important.Advocacy for this issue is a high priority."
According to the United Nations, spending $10 billion ayear could halve the proportion of people without basic toiletfacilities by 2015, and Tobin said this investment would net anestimated $84 billion in savings from improved public healthand better living conditions.
In some cultures, the solution requires very little water,as is the case in sub-Saharan Africa where ash on top of a pitis often all that is needed, she said.
"It is very important to remember most people who don'thave access are poor people living in rural areas," Tobinadded.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Miral Fahmy)