poor sanitation essay

Essay on Sanitation

Students are often asked to write an essay on Sanitation in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Sanitation

Introduction.

Sanitation refers to the provision of facilities and services to safely manage human waste. It’s crucial for maintaining a clean and healthy environment.

Importance of Sanitation

Sanitation prevents the spread of diseases, improving public health. It enhances the quality of life, ensuring dignity and safety.

Challenges in Sanitation

Many regions lack proper sanitation due to poverty, lack of awareness, or inadequate infrastructure. This leads to serious health risks.

Promoting education about sanitation, investing in infrastructure, and government policies can help improve sanitation globally.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Sanitation

250 Words Essay on Sanitation

Sanitation, a fundamental aspect of public health, is a critical concern for the global community. It involves the management of waste, including human excreta, solid waste, sewage, and industrial effluent, to protect human health and the environment.

Sanitation is vital for maintaining a healthy environment and preventing the spread of diseases. Poor sanitation can lead to various health problems, including diarrheal diseases, cholera, and typhoid. Additionally, it contributes to malnutrition and stunted growth in children.

Sanitation and Sustainable Development

Sanitation is intrinsically linked to sustainable development. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Achieving this goal requires innovative solutions and a multidisciplinary approach, encompassing aspects of engineering, social sciences, and public health.

Challenges and Solutions

Despite its importance, achieving universal access to sanitation remains a significant challenge, particularly in low-income countries. The barriers include lack of infrastructure, insufficient funding, and cultural norms. To address these challenges, it’s crucial to invest in infrastructure development, promote public awareness, and involve communities in sanitation projects.

In conclusion, sanitation is a cornerstone of public health and sustainable development. To ensure universal access to sanitation, concerted efforts from governments, international organizations, and communities are needed. With the right strategies and commitment, we can achieve a world where everyone has access to safe and sustainable sanitation.

500 Words Essay on Sanitation

Sanitation, a cornerstone of public health, is crucial for the overall well-being of communities and individuals alike. It refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human waste, and also encompasses the management of wastewater, solid waste, and stormwater. The importance of sanitation has been recognized globally, with the United Nations General Assembly declaring it a human right in 2010.

The Importance of Sanitation

Sanitation is a key determinant in maintaining and improving public health. It prevents the spread of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery, which are primarily transmitted through fecal-oral routes. Additionally, improved sanitation practices significantly contribute to dignity, productivity, and socio-economic development.

Sanitation is inextricably linked to sustainable development. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 specifically aims to “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Achieving this goal requires significant efforts to improve sanitation facilities and promote hygiene at every level.

Despite its importance, sanitation remains a global challenge. Approximately 2.3 billion people around the world do not have access to basic sanitation services. Inadequate sanitation facilities and poor hygiene practices can lead to severe health and environmental consequences.

The challenges in sanitation are multifaceted, including financial constraints, lack of political will, social norms, and cultural practices. Furthermore, rapid urbanization and population growth are exacerbating the sanitation crisis, especially in developing nations.

Sanitation Solutions

Addressing sanitation requires a multi-pronged approach. First, there is a need for increased investment in sanitation infrastructure. This includes not only toilets but also sewage systems and treatment facilities.

Second, education and behavior change are crucial. Communities need to be educated about the importance of sanitation and hygiene, and behavior change strategies can help shift social norms and practices.

Third, sanitation solutions should be context-specific. What works in one country or community may not work in another. Therefore, local knowledge and community participation are essential in designing and implementing sanitation programs.

In conclusion, sanitation is a fundamental aspect of public health and sustainable development. While significant challenges remain, a combination of investment, education, and context-specific solutions can help ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to safe and dignified sanitation. The benefits of such an achievement—reduced disease, enhanced dignity, and improved quality of life—cannot be overstated. As global citizens, it is our collective responsibility to strive for universal access to sanitation.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Children — What is Sanitation and Its Effects

What is Sanitation and Its Effects

• Categories: Children Cleanliness

About this sample

Words: 504 |

Published: Jan 15, 2019

Words: 504 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Works cited:, what is sanitation, diseases led by poor or lack of sanitation.

• Gardner, A. (2002). Movie Review: Legally Blonde.
• Legally Blonde. (2001). Directed by Robert Luketic [Film]. United States: MGM.
• Legally Blonde. (n.d.). In IMDb. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250494/
• Legally Blonde: Blonde stereotypes. (2016, June 6). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beauty-sick/201606/legally-blonde-blonde-stereotypes
• Legally Blonde. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 17, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legally_Blonde
• Loh, J. (2016, June 7). The 15 Best Quotes from Legally Blonde.
• Mahoney, C. (2015, July 13). Everything You Never Knew About ‘Legally Blonde.’
• Mukherjee, S. (2016, August 4). Why Legally Blonde is the ultimate feminist movie.
• Standpoint Theory. (n.d.). In SAGE Research Methods.
• Wood, J. T., & Fixmer-Oraiz, B. (2019). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture. Cengage Learning.

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Search UNICEF

The state of the world’s sanitation, to achieve universal sanitation, we need greater investment and higher rates of sanitation coverage..

The world is alarmingly off-track on delivering universal access to safe sanitation. For billions of people, toilets and sewage systems are still out of reach. Those living in poor and rural communities are at most risk of being left behind.  

Over 700 children die every day from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water, sanitation, and poor hygiene. Over half the world’s population uses sanitation services that leave human waste untreated, threatening human health. Meanwhile, 673 million people still practice open defecation and an estimated 367 million children attend a school with no sanitation facility at all.

Everyone is entitled to sanitation services that are affordable and accessible, and provide privacy, dignity and safety. This not only improves society’s health but also leads to better economic and social development.

Sanitation is a human right.

Talking about toilets may be awkward, but we need to act now and double our efforts if we are to eliminate open defecation. While the challenges are significant, meeting the goal of universal sanitation by 2030 is possible – with greater investment, sustained effort and increased rates of sanitation coverage.

Many countries have made rapid progress in access to sanitation, transforming lives, the environment, and their economies, all within one generation.

Above: Aumelina helps her child in using the family latrine outside their home in Tablanusu, a 100 per cent Open Defecation Free (ODF) village in Papua Province, Indonesia.

A man walks past public toilets in Kibera, the biggest informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. The city's sewer infrastructure was originally designed to support 800,000 people; the population now exceeds 4 million. Some 80 per cent of households in the city do not have access to sewer lines.

Josephine Lea Muhonja (left), 45, and her grandson Moses Kwauje, 10, stand outside a toilet in an informal settlement on the outskirts of Nairobi. "If this toilet wasn't here it would be difficult for myself and my family to live here,” she says. “In this slum, sanitation is a big issue.”

Paul Muguo, 38, clears the septic tank of a residential building in Ruaka, a town adjacent to Nairobi.

In 2019 UNICEF helped 2,058 villages, representing 617,400 people, become certified ODF.

Hanifah holds her 11-month-old daughter Dinda in a newly constructed toilet outside their home in Central Java province, Indonesia. Their home was inundated by tidal floods, so she and her family were unable to use their previous toilet for almost two years, which led them to practice defecation in a nearby river. The new toilet was built using government assistance.

Fika, 3, reads a book near a newly constructed toilet in her home in Tegaldowo village, Indonesia.

Workers build a sewage system in Candimulyo village, Indonesia. Most houses here are connected to the community sewage system, which was built through a sanitation programme implemented by the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. 

In Indonesia, nearly 1 in every 30 children dies before the age of five, with figures as high as 1 in 10 in some districts. Most of these deaths are due to preventable diseases like diarrhoea, which are exacerbated by lack of safe water and sanitation.

Between 2016 and 2018, UNICEF helped increase access to basic sanitation in schools in the country from 34.12 per cent to 43.81 per cent.

Following the devastating earthquakes in Central Sulawesi and Lombok in 2018, UNICEF helped establish innovative financing for community-based water and sanitation facilities, benefitting 20,000 people.

Ayat, 7, at home in Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. UNICEF works to provide Syrian refugees in camps and hard to reach areas with access to safe water and sanitation facilities.

Hamzah, 13, at home in Za’atari Refugee Camp. UNICEF and partners have provided Hamzah with an accessible toilet for him and his father, who are both wheelchair users. Hamzah says, “I love to keep clean and wash my hands properly, not only to protect myself from the coronavirus, but also because it’s a healthy habit to practice, especially after using the toilet.”

UNICEF has continued to deliver safe water provisions as part of a large-scale humanitarian response programme in refugee camps in Jordan. In Azraq and Za'atari refugee camps, we build and operate cost-effective and sustainable water and wastewater networks, improving the lives of over 100,000 refugee children and their families.

Eriam Sheikh, 7, comes out from a toilet on stilts built over an inlet passing by Rafiq Nagar in Mumbai.

Sonalika Dalabehera, 6, stands in the door of a latrine in Sutarajpur village, India. She was taught from an early age to use a toilet rather than practice open defecation in fields.

Community workers help lay one of the pits in the construction of a new double pit toilet in Nuagam village, India.

In 2019, 18 million people in 53 UNICEF-supported districts in India accessed toilets for the first time.

UNICEF and partners have supported the Ministry of Human Resource Development to enable access to safe sanitation and hygiene spaces for children in 150,000 vulnerable schools (including separate toilets for girls and boys in schools) across the country. This initiative seeks to improve access to and quality of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools, in line with the government's five-star benchmark, which UNICEF helped institutionalize.

We continue to support India’s ground-breaking mission to eliminate open defecation and improve waste management.

Worldwide, UNICEF-supported programmes have helped 15.5 million additional people gain access to basic sanitation services in 2019. Our support has helped 22,267 communities, made up of 14.5 million people, to become certified ODF. 

Learn more about the outlook for worldwide sanitation and our work, in the UNICEF-WHO ‘ State of the World’s Sanitation report ’.

Related topics

More to explore, state of the world’s sanitation.

An urgent call to transform sanitation for better health, environments, economies and societies

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How UNICEF is equipping families and communities with soap and clean water to help stop the spread of COVID-19

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Study Session 2  The Effects of Poor Sanitation and Waste Management

Introduction.

Many people in Ethiopia have limited knowledge and understanding of the good hygiene practices that reduce the health risks from poor sanitation and waste management. The Health Extension Programme (HEP) was established by the Ethiopian government in 2004 to address this problem within the broader aim of creating a healthy society and providing accessible health care at community level. Initially the HEP focused on rural communities but this has since been extended to pastoral areas and, in 2010, to urban communities. An important part of the programme is to improve hygiene and environmental sanitation and give people information about good health and hygiene practices (Health Extension and Education Center, 2007). Creating a healthy society also depends on improvements to sanitation and waste management and as an urban WASH worker you will be supporting this activity.

In this study session you will learn about the risks to people’s health and to the environment that result from poor sanitation and waste management. You will also look at ways of reducing these risks.

Learning Outcomes for Study Session 2

When you have studied this session, you should be able to:

2.1  Define and use correctly each of the terms printed in bold . (SAQ 2.1)

2.2  Name the main groups of human pathogens and give examples of the diseases they cause. (SAQ 2.1)

2.3  Briefly describe how sanitation and waste management affect human health and explain how good hygiene can prevent disease transmission. (SAQ 2.2)

2.4  Describe the influence of sanitation and waste management on education, the economy and the environment. (SAQ 2.3)

2.1  Health effects of poor sanitation and waste management

Ethiopia’s urban and peri-urban areas are characterised by poor sanitation conditions, indiscriminate dumping of wastes and open urination and defecation. ( Peri-urban areas are the areas surrounding a town between the urban and rural areas. They are often settled in by migrants from the countryside who suffer from extreme poverty, overcrowding and a lack of sanitation facilities.) Urban and peri-urban pollution and overcrowding create significant vulnerabilities for the overall urban population, particularly the poor. Diarrhoeal disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity (illness) and mortality (death) in developing countries, especially among children younger than five years of age. It is estimated that up to 60% of the current disease burden in Ethiopia is attributable to poor sanitation and 15% of deaths are due to diarrhoea (MoH, 2005).

Many human infections are spread through contact with human excreta. Bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms cause many diseases that are spread by direct contact with faeces or indirectly via contaminated food and soil. These different types of pathogens or infectious agents are described in Box 2.1. Diseases may also be transmitted through a carrier organism or vector. Vectors are organisms that do not cause diseases themselves, but carry or transmit disease-causing agents. For example, mosquitoes carry the protozoa that cause malaria and infect people with the disease through mosquito bites. Other examples of disease vectors are lice, ticks, fleas and rats.

Box 2.1  Main types of infectious agents

• Bacteria are very simple microscopic organisms. Some types of bacteria are essential to human life, playing a part in the digestive system. Others have other benefits, such as decomposing wastes. Pathogenic bacteria are responsible for many diseases, including tuberculosis and pneumonia and several waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera (Figure 2.1).
• Viruses are not living organisms themselves but are infectious agents able to invade cells and cause them to manufacture more virus material. Polio, HIV/AIDS, influenza and rotavirus are examples of diseases caused by viral infections.
• Protozoa are the simplest members of the animal kingdom. They are microscopic, consist of a single cell and are found in water, soil and the sea. Some types are beneficial to humans, breaking down pollutants in water, but others are parasitic, causing diseases including malaria, amoebic dysentery (Figure 2.2) and sleeping sickness.
• Parasitic worms live inside the bodies of their human host, usually in the intestines. There are several different types of parasitic worm including tapeworms, flukes and roundworms. Roundworms, also known as nematodes, include Ascaris, hookworm and whipworm (Figures 2.3 and 2.4). Most worm infections are not fatal, but they do cause long-term debilitating illness. Parasitic worms are sometimes collectively known as helminths . Note however, that there are many types of worm that are not parasitic or harmful in any way. For example, earthworms decompose dead plant matter and improve soil structure and fertility.

Table 2.1 lists some of the diseases that are caused by the many different types of pathogens and are linked to poor sanitation and waste management.

2.2  Routes for disease transmission

Most infections occur through the faecal-oral route where pathogens enter a person’s mouth through ingesting (eating or drinking) contaminated food or water, or when contaminated fingers are placed in the mouth. The different transmission routes are shown in Figure 2.5, which is known as the ‘ F diagram ’. Pathogens contained in faeces enter a new host (a person’s body) through the ‘Fs’ – fluids , fingers, flies or fields/floors. Effective sanitation, clean water and good hygiene behaviour provide barriers to this transmission.

The faeces (on the left of the diagram) comes from an infected person. The new host (on the right of the diagram) could be any man, woman or child who is not currently infected with the disease. Infections can be transmitted from faeces to the new host as follows:

• Infection from fluids usually involves drinking or cooking with water contaminated with faecal organisms.
• In the fingers pathway, a person ingests the organisms (usually during eating) if they have come into contact with faeces and have not washed their hands properly afterwards. This contact can occur from defecation, from cleaning a child’s bottom, from touching dirty surfaces or eating food prepared in an unhygienic manner.
• Flies and cockroaches often thrive on excreta. If they land on food they can transfer faecal matter that can be subsequently ingested by a person.
• Field (or soil) infection can occur by the ingestion of unwashed raw vegetables and fruit grown in soil contaminated with faeces. Contaminated soil may be transported by feet or shoes for long distances. Infections can also be transmitted through dirty floors , perhaps if food is dropped on the floor and then picked up and eaten.

Name two vectors involved in faecal-oral disease transmission.

Flies and cockroaches are two examples of vectors that can carry pathogens from faeces on to food that is then eaten.

There are other disease vectors linked to poor sanitation and waste management. For example, piles of food waste and other garbage not only provide good breeding sites for flies but they also encourage rats. Rats can contaminate food stores and also carry fleas.

Poor personal hygiene also contributes to disease transmission. Infrequent or inadequate washing of the body and clothes can encourage external body parasites such as fleas and lice, which may carry typhus.

An important example of a disease that is closely related to poor sanitation but is not transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food or water is schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia. Schistosomiasis is widely distributed in Ethiopia (Dufera et al., 2014). The disease is caused by a parasitic worm that has a complicated life cycle. Its primary host is humans, but its secondary host is a type of freshwater snail. The disease is linked to poor sanitation because it is caused by the faecal contamination of water. However, the worm gets into the body not by the faecal-oral route, but by penetrating through the skin when someone washes, swims or stands in water inhabited by infected snails.

2.3  Safeguarding health with good hygiene

In some of the later study sessions we will look at technologies that can reduce the health impacts of poor sanitation and waste management. This study session concentrates on simple practices that can be carried out by everyone to reduce these risks. These practices generally relate to good hygiene , which means any practice that prevents the spread of disease-causing organisms or substances that cause harm to humans.

2.3.1  Handwashing

Everyone should wash their hands thoroughly at certain critical times, as listed in Box 2.2. Washing should be done using clean water that has not been used by anyone else and with soap or a soap substitute such as ash. Ideally, the water should be hot. After washing, the hands should be dried using a clean cloth or allowed to dry in the air.

Box 2.2 Critical times for handwashing

The occasions in everyday activity when hands should be washed include:

• after using the latrine or toilet (or disposing of human or animal faeces)
• after cleaning a child’s bottom or changing a baby’s nappy and disposing of the faeces
• after contact with blood or body fluids (e.g. vomit)
• immediately after touching raw food, especially meat, when preparing meals
• before preparing and handling cooked or ready-to-eat food
• before eating food or feeding children
• after contact with contaminated surfaces (e.g. rubbish bins, cleaning cloths, food-contaminated surfaces)
• after handling pets and domestic animals
• after wiping or blowing the nose or sneezing into the hands
• after handling soiled tissues (your own or others’, e.g. children).

This list is frequently summarised as five critical times, which are:

• after using the latrine
• after cleaning a child’s bottom
• before preparing food
• before eating
• before feeding a child.

2.3.2  Food hygiene

Many diseases are caused by eating food that has been contaminated with an infectious agent, usually from faeces. If these diseases lead to diarrhoea or vomiting they are easily spread further if sanitation provision is poor. Food hygiene refers to practices and behaviours that can prevent contamination. For example, food and water should be stored in the home in closed containers to prevent contact with flies, rodents and other vectors. These containers should not be used for any other purpose and must be kept clean. Raw and cooked meats should not be stored together, and meat and dairy produce should be kept in a cool place, ideally in a refrigerator. Food should be prepared on clean surfaces and cooked at the correct temperature for the required time. Particular care should be taken over meat, poultry, fish and dairy produce.

2.3.3  Control of vectors

As mentioned above, all food should be stored in a way that it is not accessible to flies, rodents and other potential vectors. Storing wastes properly is also an important way of controlling vectors. Food waste should be disposed of immediately or stored in a closed container before disposal to discourage the presence of flies, etc. Household solid waste storage containers should be emptied frequently. If the waste is disposed of in a pit it should be covered with soil immediately.

Waste management can also play a part in controlling mosquitoes. Mosquitoes need water to breed, but they can also do this successfully in very small temporary puddles of rainwater. Plastic bags and other plastic waste that is carelessly discarded can hold enough water to enable mosquitoes to reproduce. Collecting and disposing of plastic correctly by burial or burning ensures this opportunity for mosquito breeding is removed.

According to the F diagram (Figure 2.5), which of the three barriers to faecal-oral disease transmission would be most effective in preventing infection?

The three barriers in the F diagram are sanitation (using a latrine), safe water supply and good hygiene, specifically handwashing. The first two are effective barriers to some of the steps in disease transmission, but hygiene cuts across all the lines of transmission. If the person who is the potential new host washes their hands at all critical times, this will be the single most effective method of preventing infection.

You have seen how poor sanitation and waste management can contribute to the spread of many different communicable diseases. The following sections describe how these negative effects on health can have further impacts on education and the economy.

2.4  Impacts on children and education

Diseases linked to poor sanitation and hygiene have a significant impact on children’s health and education. 38% of Ethiopian school children are infected with parasitic worms (Mahmud et al. 2015). These infections contribute to malnutrition because the parasites prevent the child’s body from absorbing nutrients from the food that they eat. Long-term malnutrition retards children's physical and intellectual development. The Young Lives survey (2014) reported that around 30% of Ethiopian children are stunted, which is a sign of long-term malnutrition. (Stunted means that a child’s height is less than expected for their age.)

Children are frequently ill as a result of parasites and other infections, which leads to poor school attendance and performance. Furthermore, if the school attended by an infected child does not have good sanitation and handwashing facilities the infections are likely to spread to healthy children.

There are also social impacts of poor sanitation provision in schools. An absence of latrines with separate facilities for girls and boys means that post-pubescent girls are more likely to stop attending schools, especially when menstruating (this is covered in Study Session 12). When healthy children attend a school with well segregated sanitation facilities, they are present more regularly and are better learners. This, in turn, makes them better able to find jobs that demand higher-level skills on finishing school; an advantage to them, their families and the community as a whole. This contributes to wider economic benefits, as discussed in the following section.

2.5  Impacts on the economy

A healthy community has many economic advantages over an unhealthy one. If people are healthy they will spend less money on health care and the loss of work days due to diarrhoea and other related infections is reduced. Illness can affect both the sick person and their family, for example when women have to take time off work to care for sick children.

Improving solid waste management has economic advantages in addition to the health advantages discussed above. Consider the following example.

It is said that a firm that throws something away pays towards it three times over. Imagine a firm that uses raw materials and puts them through a manufacturing process to make a final product. First, the firm has to pay its suppliers for the raw materials. Secondly, it pays its staff to transform the raw materials into products, and pays for the water and energy that it uses. Finally, the firm has to pay for disposal of what it throws away. So a firm that reduces the amount of waste it produces makes savings in all three areas.

A firm that uses basic materials such as glass or metal faces large energy bills for the processes required in converting these materials into products. But if they follow the principles of the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) and substitute some of their input raw material with scrap glass or metal, they can reduce their energy bills and buy less raw materials. These materials are often imported, so using recycled scrap reduces Ethiopia’s expenditure abroad, which benefits the national economy as well as individual firms.

There are further benefits from recycling. The initial stages in the recycling process (collecting material from households and businesses) is labour-intensive and provides employment for the poorest people in society. Giving them an income improves their health, which, in turn, reduces the country’s healthcare expenditure.

A householder in an urban area goes shopping for food. How can they apply the 3 Rs when it comes to packaging materials?

They can reduce packaging waste by buying loose fruit and vegetables rather than pre-packaged goods.

The can reuse carrier bags to take the shopping home rather than picking up new bags each time they shop.

They can recycle by taking any glass or metal food containers to collection points or by giving them to people who earn their living by collecting recyclable wastes.

2.6  Impacts on the environment

What do we mean by ‘the environment’? You may think of it as your immediate surroundings in the town or kebele where you live or work. However, it can also mean the wider natural world on a much larger, even global, scale. Poor sanitation and waste management have direct impacts on the local environment, but human practices can also have broader consequences.

There are obvious local environmental benefits from improved sanitation. This means that defecation only takes place in properly constructed latrines, areas of land are not contaminated with faeces and watercourses no longer act as sewers. This in turn allows plant life, fish and other aquatic organisms to flourish.

Improving waste management improves the local environment and also benefits the national and even the global environment. Good waste management means less litter in the streets and in the neighbourhood of waste disposal sites (Figure 2.6). It also reduces the smell in the streets from decomposing wastes.

Applying the 3 Rs saves energy because the energy used to recycle metals, paper, glass, etc. is far less than the energy used in producing these materials from raw materials. Energy production is a major source of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, contribute to human-induced climate change that is causing the overall warming of the Earth and changing weather and rainfall patterns. Recycling (and reduction and reuse) reduce the emissions of these gases. Improving the standards of landfills also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and lowers the risk of polluting local watercourses and the surrounding land.

Summary of Study Session 2

In Study Session 2, you have learned that:

• Many health problems are associated with poor sanitation and waste management, principally caused by contact with human faeces.
• The main types of infectious agent responsible for communicable diseases are bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms.
• The F diagram shows how infectious agents from faeces can be ingested by someone who then becomes infected.
• Poor sanitation and waste management create conditions that may encourage flies and other disease vectors.
• Good hygiene behaviour, especially handwashing with soap at critical times, can significantly reduce health risks.
• Diseases associated with poor sanitation affect children’s physical development and school attendance. Poor sanitation facilities in schools also affect attendance, especially for girls.
• Healthy people are more productive, which brings economic benefits to them and to the wider community.
• In industry, minimising the amount of waste can reduce costs throughout the manufacturing process.
• Environmental impacts of poor sanitation and waste management at a local level include pollution of land and watercourses, the visual impact of litter, and bad odours. At a global level, applying the 3 Rs to solid waste management can reduce energy use which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 2

Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions.

SAQ 2.1 (tests Learning Outcomes 2.1 and 2.2)

Insert the words below into the table to match the headings.

• animals that live inside humans, usually in the intestines
• infectious agents that invade cells
• parasitic worms
• simple micro-organisms
• single-celled animals that live inside humans

SAQ 2.2 (tests Learning Outcome 2.3)

Imagine that you are working with the mother of a two-year-old child. Use the F diagram (Figure 2.5) to give her some examples of how she could reduce the child’s exposure to faecal pathogens.

As well as ensuring the family is using water that is safe to drink, the focus should be on reducing the potential for the child to come into contact with faeces directly and indirectly. These barriers could include:

• ensuring all family members use a latrine. If the child is not old enough to use the latrine themselves, the mother or other carer should dispose of the child’s faeces in a latrine.
• ensuring all family members wash their hands at the appropriate times, especially before feeding the child. Teach the child to wash their own hands.
• not giving the child access to raw foods
• keeping food and wastes covered to reduce the problem of flies
• discouraging the child from picking things up in the street or off the floor
• discouraging the child from putting their fingers in their mouth.

SAQ 2.3 (tests Learning Outcome 2.4)

How do good sanitation and waste management practices bring a positive effect to urban inhabitants? Give examples for effects on:

• economic conditions
• the environment.
• Effects on health: Good sanitation and waste management help to keep people separate from potential sources of pathogens. They reduce the risk of contaminating water supplies with pathogens and discourage the transmission of disease.
• Effects on education: Healthy children have fewer days off school through illness. When they are at school, healthy children learn better than sick children. Providing good sanitation facilities encourages children to attend school, particularly girls during their menstrual periods.
• Effects on economic conditions: The health benefits promoted by good sanitation and waste make for a more productive community. Less money is spent on healthcare and people lose fewer days off work through caring for the sick.
• Effects on the environment: Good sanitation and waste management means that there will be less faeces and waste deposited in public places and less pollution of the water and soil.

Copyright © 2016 The Open University

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Lack of sanitation in cities.

Rapid expansion of urban populations presents problems for the provision of basic services to all. The rapidly growing peri-urban communities are often ignored by urban systems that may have been designed many years before the location and rate of growth was anticipated. Poor inner-city zones with high-density populations remain unplanned, with only skeletal infrastructure. In general, the rich receive these facilities and the poor do not, but the ensuing problems can affect the whole population. Particularly where squatter settlements proliferate at the outskirts of cities, a common occurrence in developing countries, access to sanitation (or drinking facilities) may be entirely lacking or inadequate. In humid zones, inadequate drainage, open sewers and broken, de-pressurized mains in urban areas can lead to the rapid transmission of water-borne diseases. Cities in arid and semi-arid regions pose another complex of environmental problems, including depletion of distant fossil water sources, aquifer pollution, and ground subsidence associated with local aquifer extraction.

The UN-mandated Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council describes typical water supply and sanitation problems in expanding cities in the following way: (1) Grossly inadequate sanitation provision creates a health-threatening and offensive environment, particularly in low-income settlements; (2) Surface water sources are polluted and aquifers are depleted and degraded; (3) Excessive use of water by industry and agriculture and unsustainable consumption patterns put a sever strain on limited water resources; (4) New distant water sources are being sought and tapped at enormous cost to cater for rising demand; (5) At the same time, huge amounts of treated, potable water are wasted through leakages in distributions systems that are often old and seldom well maintained; (6) Water is delivered at a subsidized price to the middle and upper classes, while the under-served majority has an erratic, unreliable supply or depends on informal channels such as water vendors, at a much higher unit cost; (7) For a variety of reasons, many water and sanitation utilities are unable to operate and maintain existing infrastructure, to manage demand, recover service costs or make the investments that would be necessary to extend services; (8) Institutional responsibilities for water resources management are fragmented, and there is very little dialogue among the various institutions concerned.

Peru suffered a catastrophic outbreak of cholera in 1991. It started in the capital, Lima, as a result of poor water and sanitation facilities and spread rapidly over a wide area, passing out of low-income settlements across the city and into wealthy neighbourhoods. The effects on the economy were devastating. This fishing industry collapsed more or less overnight with a loss of US$ 1 billion in three months. Tourism lost $500 million over the same period. Yet the amount lost in exports and tourism alone would have been sufficient to provide a decent water supply and sanitation system for the entire population of Lima, at a cost of about $50 per household.

The 1994 plague outbreak in the Indian city of Surat (a comparatively prosperous city), which was attributed mainly to unsanitary conditions, killed 54 people, affected nearly 5,000 people, caused more than $US 1.5 billion in economic damage and triggered the exodus of 500,000 residents from Surat.

Despite all efforts of national governments, and bi- and multi-lateral agencies during the last decades, including the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade  (1981-1990), the number of urban dwellers lacking access to environmental infrastructure services in developing countries is increasing. Urban population growth is outstripping the provision of new services. In 1994 almost 280 million people in urban areas lacked access to safe water supply, while about 600 million were without adequate sanitation. Among the urban poor, less than 30% of households are connected to water supply and less than 20% have access to adequate sanitation. In addition, many people believed to be served benefited from unreliable, intermittent services providing water only part of the time.

About the Encyclopedia

The Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential is a unique, experimental research work of the Union of International Associations . It is currently published as a searchable online platform with profiles of world problems, action strategies, and human values that are interlinked in novel and innovative ways. These connections are based on a range of relationships such as broader and narrower scope, aggravation, relatedness and more. By concentrating on these links and relationships, the Encyclopedia is uniquely positioned to bring focus to the complex and expansive sphere of global issues and their interconnected nature.

The initial content for the Encyclopedia was seeded from UIA’s Yearbook of International Organizations . UIA’s decades of collected data on the enormous variety of association life provided a broad initial perspective on the myriad problems of humanity. Recognizing that international associations are generally confronting world problems and developing action strategies based on particular values , the initial content was based on the descriptions, aims, titles and profiles of international associations.

The Union of International Associations (UIA) is a research institute and documentation centre, based in Brussels. It was  established  in 1907, by  Henri la Fontaine  (Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1913), and  Paul Otlet , a founding father of what is now called information science.  

Non-profit, apolitical, independent, and non-governmental in nature, the UIA has been a pioneer in the research, monitoring and provision of information on international organizations, international associations and their global challenges since 1907.

www.uia.org

10 Facts About Sanitation in Russia

• As of 2018, more than 11 million Russians do not have access to clean drinking water, according to the Russian regulatory bodies. Reports also show that roughly a third of Russia’s population of 144 million drink  water with high iron content . While ingesting iron isn’t harmful to one’s health, iron in the water attracts multiple breeds of bacteria , making it dangerous to drink. Not to mention, high iron content will turn the water yellow and produce a foul smell.
• Although Moscow is the largest city in Russia, more than 56% of its water sources do not pass official water safety standards. A study in 2013 found high levels of sulfur, oil, aluminum and other hard metals in Moscow’s main river , the Moskva.
• Much of the pollutants in Russia’s water sources were dumped during Joseph Stalin’s rule, between 1941 and 1953. Stalin wanted the USSR to “catch up” with the western countries, and, as a result, factories forewent the usual environmental regulations in order to produce goods as quickly as possible.
• As recent as 2016, locals near Mayak, one of Russia’s nuclear complexes responsible for some of the largest radioactive accidents, speculated that the plant was still dumping waste into the Techa River. Mayak’s last confirmed case of illegal dumping was in 2004, and doctors have recorded consistently high rates of birth defects and cancer in the residents of the area.
• With around two million lakes and a quarter of the world’s freshwater reserves, Russia is not lacking any water. However, faulty pipes, pollution and inefficient filters have left much of the population without clean potable water. Scientists estimate that up to 60% of Russia’s water reserves do not pass sanitary standards, due to pollution and chemical dumping.
• Roughly 30% of the water pipelines that run through Russian towns and cities are in need of repair. The corrosion of these pipes not only stops them from working but can deposit even more harmful heavy metals into the already contaminated water supply.
• In 2010, the Russian Academy of Sciences created a government-backed plan called the Clean Water of Russia Program. This is Russia’s first and only government-issued program designed to overcome the water crisis. More than 2,000 separate proposals were collected and refined into the program , which was implemented in regions across the country. The program outlines goals to invest in improving water supply and waste disposal, protection for water sources against pollution and installing steel water pipes to last over 100 years.
• Although the Clean Water of Russia Program is a step in the right direction, many scientists have called out the lack of science-based data in the initiative. Reconstructing entirely new water systems may be economically favorable in some areas of the country while repairing pre-existing water systems would be more efficient in other areas. Some scholars worry that an inadequate number of scientists were involved in outlining the Clean Water of Russia Program, and the country will lose an unnecessary amount of money.
• Similar to the nationwide Clean Water of Russia Program, a smaller, government-backed plan entitled The Clean Water of Moscow was created in 2010 with plans to provide clean water to all of Moscow’s citizens. This plan was structured with the help of scientists. Since its inception, four water treatment plants utilize ozone-sorption technology to purify Moscow’s drinking water.
• Five years after the creation of the Clean Water of Russia Program, a study carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that 97% of Russian citizens’ water sources had improved in quality, and 72% of the population had improved and available sanitation facilities. However, improved quality does not equate to meeting water safety standards, and millions of people still do not have access to pure drinking water .

After examining these 10 facts about sanitation in Russia, there are still many obstacles in its path to clean water for all, including massive detrimental polluting during the 20 th century and from nuclear power plants. In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed citizens in a broadcasted Q&A that access to water was still a prominent issue for the country, despite the launching of the Clean Water of Russia Program. However, through continued work, the Clean Water of Russia Program can make a positive difference in further improving clean water access.

–  Anya Chung Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Biden Bashes Trump as a Pawn of Billionaires as He Lays Out His Tax Plan

Speaking in Scranton, Pa., his hometown, the president used a speech about economic fairness as a new avenue of attack against his Republican rival, who was in a courtroom two hours away.

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Biden Digs at Trump During His Pennsylvania Hometown Visit

In a speech about his tax plan, president biden compared scranton, pa., to trump’s mar-a-lago to highlight the different economic and social values between america’s middle class and its wealthy..

We’re not asking anything as unusual. Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny. I hope you’re all able to make $400,000. I never did. You know, I have to say, if Trump’s stock in Truth Social — his company — drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his. [laughter] No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a nurse, a sanitation worker. Folks, where we come from matters. When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. I see it through the eyes of Scranton. And that’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. Donald Trump looks at the world differently than you and me. He wakes up in the morning in Mar-a-Lago thinking about himself. How he can help his billionaire friends gain power and control, and force their extreme agenda on the rest of us.

By Nicholas Nehamas

Reporting from Scranton, Pa.

• Published April 16, 2024 Updated April 18, 2024

President Biden delivered a flurry of attacks on former President Donald J. Trump during a Tuesday speech in Pennsylvania about taxes and economic policy, painting his Republican rival as a puppet of plutocrats who had ignored the working class.

Visiting his hometown, Scranton, in a top battleground state that he has visited more often than any other, Mr. Biden laid out his vision for a fairer tax code, including raising rates on the wealthy and corporations and using the money to expand the economy and help working families.

But in a speech that signaled the Biden campaign’s intention to make the 2024 election a referendum on his polarizing Republican opponent, the president returned again and again to Mr. Trump. His jabs at his predecessor took aim at the former president’s wealthy upbringing, his friendships with billionaires and his 2017 tax cuts that disproportionately benefited America’s upper crust .

“Donald Trump looks at the world differently than you and me,” Mr. Biden told a crowd of more than a hundred supporters at a cultural center in Scranton. “He wakes up in the morning at Mar-a-Lago thinking about himself. How he can help his billionaire friends gain power and control, and force their extreme agenda on the rest of us.”

Aiming for a clear contrast, Mr. Biden laid out his proposals: Expanding the child tax credit. Providing a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. Raising the minimum tax rate for billionaires and corporations.

“We know the best way to build an economy is from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” Mr. Biden said. “Because when you do that, the poor have a ladder up and the middle class does well and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.”

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, disputed that Mr. Biden’s plan would benefit Americans.

“President Trump proudly passed the largest tax CUTS in history,” she said in a statement. “Joe Biden is proposing the largest tax HIKE ever.”

Throughout his speech, Mr. Biden wove in criticism of Mr. Trump — including a needling joke about the falling shares in the former president’s social media company.

“If Trump’s stock in Truth Social — his company — drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his,” Mr. Biden said.

The president’s speech kicked off a three-day swing through Pennsylvania, with appearances scheduled in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Philadelphia on Thursday. The trip came as Mr. Trump appeared in court in Manhattan for the second straight day as his first criminal trial begins — a striking split screen welcomed by the Biden campaign.

Since Mr. Biden delivered his State of the Union address last month, his campaign has shifted into general election mode, after a far quieter start to the year. In recent weeks, he has visited every major battleground state. His campaign has opened more than 100 field offices around the nation in coordination with state Democratic parties, spent $30 million in an advertising blitz and built a significant fund-raising advantage over Mr. Trump. An Arizona court decision that upheld a near-total abortion ban dating to 1864 has also energized Democrats .

As those efforts have taken place, Mr. Biden’s depressed poll numbers have improved, with a survey this month by The New York Times and Siena College finding that he had nearly erased Mr. Trump’s lead nationwide. The president had trailed Mr. Trump by five percentage points in the previous survey. Much of Mr. Biden’s recovery came from his improved standing among traditional Democratic voters, a signal that his campaign’s messaging efforts may be having an effect.

Still, Mr. Biden faces an uphill battle in convincing Americans that he is a better steward of the nation’s economy than Mr. Trump. In the latest Times/Siena poll, 64 percent of voters said they approved of how Mr. Trump had handled the economy while in office. Only 34 percent said the same of Mr. Biden, the poll found.

The tax cuts that Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017 have proved unpopular with voters. And while they increased investment in the U.S. economy and delivered a modest pay bump for workers, they fell short of Republican promises and are adding greatly to the national debt, one academic study found. Many parts of those tax cuts are set to expire next year.

Mr. Biden pledged in his speech that under his plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 would see their taxes go up.

“I hope you’re able to make $400,000,” he told the crowd. “I never did.”

As Mr. Biden spoke, Mr. Trump was seated in a Manhattan courtroom roughly two hours away, watching the selection of the first jurors in his trial. Mr. Biden has generally refrained from mentioning the charges Mr. Trump faces in four criminal cases, but his campaign did troll the former president on social media for appearing to fall asleep during proceedings on Monday.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, did not answer when asked if Mr. Biden was watching the Trump trial or being briefed on it.

“His focus is on the American people,” she said during a briefing with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Scranton.

But even in his hometown, Mr. Biden could not avoid the anger that many Democrats feel over his support for Israel during its war in Gaza. As Mr. Biden walked up the steps of his childhood home, a crowd of protesters down the block waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Genocide Joe has got to go” through a loudspeaker.

Mr. Biden is set to speak on Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Steelworkers union in Pittsburgh before visiting Philadelphia on Thursday. He narrowly defeated Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania in 2020, and winning the state is crucial to his re-election strategy.

Democratic allies of Mr. Biden said they thought his message on economic fairness would resonate in Pennsylvania.

“Scranton versus Fifth Avenue was one of the most successful frames from the 2020 campaign,” said Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, referring to the location of Trump Tower in Manhattan. “You’re going to see more of it in this campaign.”

Nicholas Nehamas is a Times political reporter covering the re-election campaign of President Biden. More about Nicholas Nehamas

Our Coverage of the 2024 Election

Presidential Race

President Biden’s campaign has featured initiatives aimed at young people , union workers and environmentalists  as well as calling for tariffs on Chinese steel , but it is not clear that they will be sufficient  to rekindle support in those groups.

American voters absorbed their first view of a split-screen campaign:  President Biden sprinting across one of the country’s top battleground states and former President Donald J. Trump sitting in a New York courtroom.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he had secured a spot on the ballot in Michigan, as more than a dozen members  of his family endorsed  President Biden. Additionally, activists who worked with Kennedy at an environmental nonprofit group urged him to drop his presidential bid .

A Generation Gap: Many older Black voters see moral and political reasons to vote, but younger Black voters feel far less motivated to cast a ballot for Democrats or even at all .

Vice-Presidential Calculations: As Trump sifts through potential running mates, he has peppered some advisers and associates with a direct question: Which Republican could best help him raise money ?

Embracing the Jan. 6 Rioters:  Trump initially disavowed the attack on the Capitol, but he is now making it a centerpiece of his campaign .

Mobilizing the Left: Amid the war in Gaza, the pro-Palestinian movement has grown into a powerful, if disjointed, political force in the United States. Democrats are feeling the pressure .