In India, Greater Access To Cell Phones Than Toilets

In India, more people have access to cell phones than toilets.

That detail is the shocking crux of a new U.N. report (pdf), which illustrates just how poor sanitation conditions are in developing nations.

It's astounding to think that in India, the world's second most-populous country, technology could dwarf the most basic human right of adequate hygiene. But while roughly 45 percent of the population had a cell phone in 2008, only 31 percent had access to improved sanitation.

That breach is not just limited to India: The U.N. report points out that worldwide, 1.1 billion people defecate in the open, which results in severe health hazards. According to Zafar Adeel, Director of United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health, 1.5 million children and countless others are killed each year as a result of contaminated water and unhealthy sanitation. From an economic standpoint, every dollar spent on sanitation gets a return of $3 - 34 dollars in reduced health and poverty costs, and increased productivity.

The figures are disheartening, but there may be hope for change. The U.N. lays out nine specific proposals to improve sanitation conditions, including an adjustment of the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target from 50 percent improvement by 2015 to 100 percent by 2025, and a shift to more community control over sanitation needs.

Notes the co-author of the U.N. report: "Sanitation for all is not only achievable, but necessary. There is a moral, civil, political and economic need to bring adequate sanitation to the global population."

Photo credit: Mckaysavage