| |
|
 |
|
A new United Nations study has found that more people around the world have access to a cellphone than to a working toilet.
The
study’s numbers claim that of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6
billion have access to mobile phones. However, only 4.5 billion have
access to a toilet.
At a press conference announcing the report,
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson announced the organization
is launching an effort to halve the number of those without access by
the end of 2015.
“Let’s face it—this is a problem that people do
not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good
health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions
of people,” Eliasson said at the press conference.
In August
2012, the Bill Gates Foundation began its own effort to “reinvent the
toilet” as a way to help curb the number of people around the world
without access to sanitary waste disposal.
Interestingly, the
report states that India alone is responsible for 60 percent of the
world’s population that does not use a toilet, an estimated 626 million
individuals. Yet, at the same time, there are an estimated 1 billion
cellphones in India.
Conversely, in the world’s most highly
populated country, China, only 14 million people do not have access to a
toilet. However, there are also fewer cellphones in China, 986 million,
according to the Daily Mail.
Driving the point home, more than
750,000 people die each year from diarrhea and one of its primary causes
is from unsanitary conditions created in communities without access to
toilets.
And there are other benefits of installing more modern sanitation options that don’t immediately come to mind.
“This
can also improve the safety of women and girls, who are often targeted
when they are alone outdoors,” said Martin Mogwanja, deputy executive
director of the U.N. Children’s Fund.
“And providing safe and
private toilets may also help girls to stay in school, which we know can
increase their future earnings and help break the cycle of poverty.” |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| Source: The Verge |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment