There are more cell phones now than toilets.
Of the 7 billion people in the world, 6 billion have cell phones.
Only 4.5 billion people on the planet have available.
The United Nations’ considers this circumstance dire as the lack of proper sanitation leads to disease and infection.
While the UN’s initial goal was to reduce this number in half by 2015 the more likely date for its realization is 2026.
According to the NGO WaterAid, meeting the 2015 goal could save up to 400 thousand children’s lives.
Disease related to poor sanitation is the number one killer of children in Africa.
Better conditions could also boost economies. Research on the subject shows that health problems resulting from poor sanitations have a significant impact on a country’s gross domestic product. Among the repercussions are costs incurred because of premature death, decreases in industry and tourism, and productivity.
For example, a 2011 World Bank study estimated that India loses over 50 billion dollars annually.
Henry Northover, WaterAid’s head of policy, said that at the current rate of progress it could take over 200 years to reach acceptable water and sanitation levels on the African continent.
