World Toilet Day today

'Inadequate sanitation in South Asia leads to a number of diseases including diarrhoea. But the most dramatic result of open defecation is the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,' a World Health Organisation (WHO) report said this in a report published on the eve of the 'World Toilet Day-2014'. The WHO estimates that every dollar spent on sanitation gives a return of nine US dollars. It also estimated that India's loss to GDP was 6.4 per cent due to poor sanitation. The WHO in its report said that South Asia is likely to miss its target of reaching the sanitation goals by 2015, the target year for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). So far, the most successful case has been Nepal where it has improved to 86 per cent from 40 per cent and the 2nd best case is Bangladesh here it improved from 3 per cent to 34 per cent. The secretary-general of the United Nations in a message on ‘World Toilet Day,’ has called upon countries to form a ‘global partnership’ to address the challenges of sanitation. He said the task was even more imperative as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) terminal year will end next year but achievements in the sanitation sector has not been satisfactory, according to a news agency.