Archive for category: Sanitation

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Chemical Toilet Troubles in Cape Town

Because of the wealth that circulates throughout Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria, South Africa is technically classified as an upper-middle income nation. However, the very cities that contain much of the country’s money are also surrounded by its most extreme examples of poverty.

The townships scattered around the edges of these cities are home to millions of people (the overwhelming majority of whom are “black Africans”) living in overcrowded shelters with little to no sanitation. It’s a recipe for disease, but some are saying that hasty solutions to the problem are not helping – in fact, the chemical toilets installed in townships outside of Cape Town have been explicitly described as human rights violations.

The city of Cape Town has provided chemical toilets – the type of toilet found inside Porta-Potties – to its townships for over a year. An investigation conducted by the Human Rights Commission has found that not only does the city fail to communicate with each township individually to cater to its specific sanitation needs, but it also equips its townships with the bare minimum sanitation services according to a set of “emergency housing guidelines.” The problem? For the people who live in townships, improper sanitation is no one-time emergency. It is their everyday reality.

Accordingly, the Human Rights Commission recommends that the city of Cape Town implement a new approach to sanitation in informal settlements, one that better serves the “rights to equality, dignity, privacy, basic sanitation, and a healthy environment.” To fulfill these expectations, Cape Town must provide its townships with chemical toilets that can service the needs of their entire populations, undergo periodic maintenance, are sufficiently cleaned on a regular basis – measures that are currently not being taken.

If Cape Town follows through with these recommendations and commits to providing proper sanitation, the residents of its townships will experience reduced risk of contracting the diseases and conditions associated with open sewage systems, including diarrhea, parasites and bacterial infection. In a country of nearly 60 million people, successful public health interventions can be difficult. However, Cape Town has its work laid out for it as far as sanitation goes.

Perhaps future sanitation successes in Cape Town’s townships will inspire further steps to improve the quality of life for South Africa’s poor. Townships, which are largely the result of the forced relocation of millions of black and “coloured” people during South Africa’s infamous period of apartheid, typically lack not just sanitation but also food security, safety and educational outlets. Giving people in informal settlements the sanitation measures necessary to prevent disease and protect human dignity is the first step to giving them a hand up and out of poverty.

– Elise L. Riley

Sources: All Africa, UNICEF, World Bank, Telegraph
Photo: International Budget

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“The Drinkable Book”

When Theresa Dankovich began researching the sanitizing potential of silver nanoparticles in 2008, little did she know that her work would contribute to “The Drinkable Book.” The book is actually a filtration kit equipped with a filter box and a book with pages that offer sanitation advice and function as filter sheets.

Designed by researchers at the University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon University and WATERisLIFE (a nonprofit dedicated to providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene services worldwide,) “The Drinkable Book” operates as a cheap purification kit that eliminates 99.9 percent of bacteria found in water — comparable to the quality of tap water in the U.S. Each page from the book can filter up to 100 liters of water, and each book has 20 sheets of paper. That’s enough clean water to last one person’s needs for four years, WATERisLIFE claims.

But how does it work exactly? The book is printed like any other, except the pages are lined with silver nanoparticles, which costs only a few extra cents. As needed, one can rip out a half-sheet of paper from the book, place it in the filter box, which also serves as the book’s cover, and allow the silver ions to attach to and kill harmful bacteria. The water seeps through the paper, leaving it safe to drink. Tips for clean drinking are also printed on every sheet with food-grade ink.

Dankovich, the chemist who conceived the idea, says the product is one of the cheapest ways to make water safe to drink. “It doesn’t require power and it’s very intuitive,” she said.

Last year, Dankovich field-tested the product in South Africa, and she now plans to take it to Ghana for more tests. “Our main goal is to reduce the spread of diarrheal diseases, which result from drinking water that’s been contaminated with things like E. coli and cholera and typhoid,” Dankovich said.

For the 3.4 million people who die each year from water-related diseases, the innovative product offers renewed hope. It’s cheap to produce, inventive and one of the niftiest products WATERisLIFE has seen in recent years.

“The Drinkable Book” has the potential to enhance the lives of an untold number of individuals worldwide. But the implications don’t stop there. Women spend a collective 200 million hours a day to find and collect water that is safe to drink. If those same women had access to “The Drinkable Book,” millions of hours would be saved — hours that could be used for work, education and social activities to enrich and extend the lives of family members.

– Joseph McAdams

Sources: Wired, NPR, Adweek, Water.org
Photo: Wired

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Cholera in the Developing World

In the 1800s, cholera emerged from its place of origin in India and ravaged the world. Millions have died in the seven cholera pandemics that have occurred since the first appearance of the disease. While it has been eradicated in some regions, others continue to suffer from recurring epidemics.

Cholera is rarely seen in industrialized countries due to proper sanitation systems. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that up to 80 percent of cholera cases can be “successfully treated with oral rehydration salts.” However, the bacteria that causes cholera can easily “continue to thrive” in areas with poor sanitation and overcrowded housing. While the developed world may not face the threat of cholera, in recent years, developing nations have seen deadly outbreaks.

Cholera is an “acute diarrheal disease,” which, in severe cases, can cause “profuse watery diarrhea,” vomiting, and muscle cramps. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that even more severe symptoms include “acute renal failure, severe electrolyte imbalances and coma.” The disease is potentially fatal just hours after developing symptoms.

The severity of cases often varies, says the WHO. Of those infected with the bacteria, 75 percent do not develop symptoms. While this may seem like a non-issue, the bacteria continue to exist in their fecal matter for up to two weeks. Without proper sewage sanitation, others may come in contact with the bacteria as well.

The remaining 25 percent of people infected do develop symptoms. However, 80 percent of those with symptoms only have mild or moderate ones. The other 20 percent of people experience serious, potentially deadly symptoms.

In 2008, the Vietnamese city of Hanoi experienced a cholera outbreak that produced upwards of 2,490 cases. The outbreak was attributed to sewage from septic tanks contaminating lakes where people sometimes wash food. Additionally, street food stalls and “dog meat” restaurants were closed down due to improper sanitation. Thirty lakes in Hanoi had to be sanitized due to the presence of cholera bacteria.

A cholera outbreak in Haiti, which began in 2010, has claimed 8,562 lives, according to the New York Times. Although relief efforts have reduced the number of cases, “clean drinking water and sanitation remain as scarce as when the epidemic began.” The number of cholera treatment centers has shrunk from 120 to 40, and the number of patients dying in treatment centers is rising. Doctors fear that the rainy season will cause the number of cases to skyrocket.

Medical News Today reports the ominous prediction that a cholera outbreak will strike Iraq. “Cholera is endemic in northern Iraq” already, says the report, and with the number of displaced people and refugees rising, the risk is even higher. Syrian refugee camps are overflowing with people, putting the water and sanitation standards at stake.

Two oral cholera vaccines exist, though the WHO has never recommended the vaccine “due to its low protective efficacy and the high occurrence of severe adverse reactions.” The best way to handle an outbreak, says the WHO, is to provide “prompt access to treatment, and to control the spread of the disease by providing safe water, proper sanitation and health education.”

These solutions, however, need to be applied in areas with the greatest need. The United Nations has come under fire for its response to the cholera outbreak in Haiti. The UN has failed to raise the amount of money necessary for vaccinations. While that would provide some immediate relief, Haiti also lacks the $2 billion necessary to construct safe water and sanitation services. Lasting relief is still in the distant future for the slowly recovering nation.

– Bridget Tobin

Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, Medical News Today, IRIN, CDC, The New York Times
Photo: Medical News Today

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Who Gives a Crap?

Presently, over 40 percent of the world’s population does not have access to a toilet. All over the world, open defecation is a way of life. This excretion runs into water, which is used for cooking, cleaning and washing.

Dirty water is a leading cause of diarrhea-related illnesses, which results in over 2,000 deaths per day across the globe for children under the age of 5. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention notes that 6.3 percent of all deaths worldwide would be preventable if access to proper sanitation were available to the 2.6 billion people who currently lack it.

Who Gives a Crap is an Australian toilet paper company that claims to be “The World’s Most Impactful Toilet Paper.” This innovative company donates 50 percent of its profits to WaterAid, a nonprofit that aims to improve access to clean water in the developing world by building toilets and improving sanitation.

In July 2012, the co-founder of Who Gives a Crap, Simon Griffiths, conducted a literal sit-in, bare-bottomed on a toilet, until enough pre-orders were made to begin production. And 50 hours and $50,000 later, Who Gives a Crap was launched.

Using 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste fibers in their product saves trees, water and landfills, meaning consumers help keep our planet great while promoting a great cause.

The toilet paper industry in the United States is a 7.6 billion industry each year. Capturing just 1 percent of the market in the U.S. means that Who Gives a Crap would help to provide toilets to about 2 million people living in developing countries each year. Griffiths believes that to remain competitive, companies must incorporate “goodness” into their products — that is, the way consumers value products is more than just quality and price, but what the companies do to make a difference.

Who Gives a Crap is an inventive company using a product that everybody needs to help those in need, and in that way, Griffiths says, he is “sitting down for what I believe in.”

— Ellie Malfaro

Sources: Vimeo, Who Gives a Crap, Huffington Post
Photo: Oilers’ Addict

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Toilet Hackers

A total of 2.5 billion, or about 40 percent of the world’s population, go through their daily lives without toilets and without satisfying basic sanitation needs. For lack of access to sanitation, one out of every three girls in sub-Saharan Africa drops out of school when they start menstruating, and a child dies every 17 seconds as a result of unclean water and poor hygiene. The members of Toilet Hackers have made it their mission to revolutionize the way people experience hygiene all over the globe.

Toilet Hackers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and implementing successful sanitation projects in regions that lack adequate access to toilets. Their ultimate goal is to provide, in 10 years, a network of 10 million toilets worldwide.

In their first year, Toilet Hackers provided toilets in Kenya, Rwanda and Peru. In their second year, they provided toilets in Colombia, Uganda and Mumbai. In their third year, they have provided toilets in Brazil and Pune.

Additionally, Toilet Hackers clearly outlines how each donation impacts their cause. Their chart features three sections: cost, impact and system. For example, $12.50 impacts one child and can fund a hygiene scholarship, while $10,000 can fund hygiene training and 10 public latrines for up to 800 children and students. For donations in between, $50 can fund a ventilated latrine pit for a family of seven and a donation of $5,000 can fund a sanitation entrepreneur that will provide a village with education, training and access to better sanitation. Moreover, a donation of $1,000 can provide one public toilet with integrated hygiene training for 80 kids or people in a community.

Organizations such as UNICEF, Sprint, Water for People, Expedition Everest, MAMA Hope, Gensler, Falcon Waterfree Technologies, International Medical Corps, Second Muse, Random Hacks of Kindness and the Water and Sanitation Program have all partnered with Toilet Hackers to help them achieve their goal.

— Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: Huff Post, Gloabal Citizen, Toilet Hackers
Photo: WordPress

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Lifespans Increasing In Poorest Countries

Life expectancy has risen in the past two decades by over nine years. Both wealthy and impoverished nations have managed to raise their citizens’ lifespans. In the wealthier countries, less people are dying from heart diseases by the age of 60. According to the U.N.’s World Health Organization annual statistics, six countries’ babies are healthier, with less dying before the age of 5, explained Margaret Chan, World Health Organization chief, in a statement.

The six poorest countries managed to raise life expectancy by over 10 years between 1990 and 2012. Liberia’s lifespans increased the most by 20 years (42 to 62).

The next few countries that were able to significantly raise their lifespans are Ethiopia (from 45 to 64 years), Maldives (58 to 77), Cambodia (54 to 72), East Timor (50 to 66) and Rwanda (48 to 65).

According to the WHO, a girl who was born in 2012 will most likely live to be approximately 73-years old and a boy up to 68-years old.

More people are starting to live longer because of an increase in food supplies, better nutrition, improvements in medical supplies and technology (immunizations and antibiotics), improved sanitation and hygiene and safer water supplies.

Although the life spans in Africa are the lowest, they have still made a significant increase by about 10 percent . Malaria deaths have decreased by 30 percent and HIV infections have also decreased by 74 percent.

A great contribution to the increasing lifespans is the larger income Africans are making, which has increased by 30 percent.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique, has made huge improvement due to the discoveries of coal and gas.

Today, this is proof that people are able to make a change in others’ lives — the ones who need it the most. Although the poorest countries still have the shortest lifespans, they have definitely increased. Over the next few decades, one could expect even more growth.

 —  Priscilla Rodarte

Sources: ENCA, SF Gate, Geography, The Independent

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Effects of India’s Poor Sanitation

Poor sanitation can sometimes be the initial domino that starts a cascading wave of other problems. In the case of India, poor sanitation and open defecation have allowed for an overwhelmingly unhygienic environment and a variety of widespread health problems.

In India, there are more people who openly defecate on a regular basis than live in the entirety of Africa. Out of the 1.2 billion inhabitants, 103 million lack safe drinking water and 802 million lack any sanitation services.

For starters, combining an unhygienic environment with a high population density creates a breeding ground for preventable disease epidemics. Two common hygiene-related diseases, typhoid and diarrhea, prevent their victims from absorbing necessary nutrients which leads to malnutrition. India has higher rates of malnutrition in children than Sub-Saharan Africa.

The effect of having proper hygienic practices is shown when comparing the states within India. States where 80 percent or more of the rural population can access toilets have much lower levels of childhood malnutrition than cities where open defecation is commonly practiced.

Not only are there health consequences to open defecation, but social safety consequences as well. When women and children have to relieve themselves, they are forced to venture into the streets rather than using a toilet in the safety of their own home, which compromises their safety. A senior police officer in Bihar stated that about 400 women would have avoided rape last year if they had toilets in their homes.

The root of the problem is the lack of available or accessible toilets to the general population. Unfortunately, use of the toilets found in developed countries would be impractical and nearly impossible to achieve in India. A waste disposal system would need to be put into place, and toilets like these require large amounts of water, which is rarely consistent in developing countries.

While India is not known for being wealthy, the country ranks fourth in the world for manufacturing competitiveness. With many citizens capable of designing and manufacturing innovative solutions, the possibility of a low-cost toilet is promising.

One type of toilet that could potentially work well with India is the composting toilet, which is a toilet that is used for about a year, and subsequently sealed for 6-9 months, where the heat and decomposition of the feces kills off harmful bacteria and creates rich fertilizer that can be used in gardens.

While India’s poor sanitation has deep-rooted negative effects, the country has the innovative capacity to find an efficient and widespread solution.

– Courtney Prentice

 

Sources: Live Mint and The Wall Street Journal, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Child Fund, Water
Photo: OMICK

 

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No Ordinary Novel: The Drinkable Book

In the age of tablets and e-books, there is one book everyone should have a hard copy of.

It doesn’t matter where you live or who you are, millions of people die each year from drinking contaminated water. That’s why the humanitarian organization WaterIsLife has partnered up with the advertising agency DDB to develop The Drinkable Book.

The Drinkable Book looks normal on the outside and is just a few inches thick with about 20 printed pages, but on the inside the book contains the gift of fresh water.

The book not only contains step-by-step instructions on how to purify drinking water, including simple things like washing hands and not leaving trash near a water source, but its pages are also filters to help purify water around the world.

“One of WaterisLife’s biggest challenges (beyond providing clean water) is teaching proper sanitation/hygiene, so this was a perfect opportunity to not only introduce the new filters, but also to do it in a way that meaningfully addresses both problems,” said Brian Gartside, the senior designer of The Drinkable Book in an interview with Slate.

Each page of The Drinkable Book is coated in bacteria-killing silver nanoparticles and can be torn out and used as a water filter. The pages kill the bacteria that cause cholera, E.coli and typhoid, among other diseases and can last up to a month each time they are used.

“A lot of water issues aren’t just because people don’t have the right technology, but also because they aren’t informed why they need to treat water to begin with,” says Theresa Dankovich, the chemist who developed the filter paper.

To use the book, you rip one of the pages in half and slide it into the filter box — which doubles as a cover for the book — and pour contaminated water through. After a few minutes, the bacteria in the water is reduced by 99.9%  and is comparable U.S. tap water.

“Our main goal is to reduce the spread of diarrheal diseases, which result from drinking water that’s been contaminated with things like E. coli and cholera and typhoid,” Dankovich says in the interview. “And we think we can help prevent some of these illnesses from even happening.”

Trying to prevent diseases caused by contaminated water truly aids in the fight against global poverty. Helping those people without access to a clean water source fight contaminants and battle disease means the people who would have previously been ill have a chance to live.

This chance could mean they have the opportunity to work, to open a new business, to expand to new markets or even visit other countries, and have more resources to make life better for themselves and the place they grew up in.

WaterIsLife printed an initial run of 100 copies in English and Swahili to be sent to Kenya and distributed among the impoverished people there, but the brand also plans to distribute The Drinkable Book around the world.

– Cara Morgan

Sources: HuffPost, NPR, Slate, TheGistOfWater
Photo: Design Boom

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Curbing the Spread of Vector-Borne Disease

The theme of this year’s World Health Day, held annually on April 7th, was to promote the awareness of vector-borne diseases. Vector-borne diseases are transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes, flies, ticks and water snails, among other disease-carrying pests.

This year the World Health Organization (WHO) promoted the slogan “small bite, big threat,” in the hopes that they would be able to increase awareness on how people across the globe can protect themselves and their families from these pests and the viruses that they may transmit.

Vector-borne diseases have radically increased in the past few decades, aided by an increase in urbanization, international travel and environmental changes.

More than one billion people each year are affected by these diseases, which include malaria, dengue fever, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis and yellow fever.

Efforts to control the spread of these diseases have included the distribution of bed nets and insecticides, the use of body repellents and protective clothing, and the push for clean water and adequate sanitation.

WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, noted, “A global health agenda that gives higher priority to vector control could save many lives and avert much suffering. No one in the 21st century should die from the bite of a mosquito, a sand fly, a blackfly or a tick.”

The focus this year is on dengue fever, which is currently the most rapidly spreading vector-borne disease in the world.

Dengue fever, also known as “breakbone fever” due to its symptoms, is a severe flu-like disease marked by vomiting, bleeding, body aches and difficult breathing. There is no known vaccine or cure available.

During the past 50 years, dengue fever has spread rapidly to more than 100 countries. Prior to 1960, dengue had seen some 15,000 cases, whereas now over 380 million cases of dengue fever persist.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently working on a vaccine for dengue fever in partnership with a company specializing in vaccine development, Inviragen. They have gone through clinical trials in a number of countries including Singapore, Colombia, Thailand and Puerto Rico, and analysis of those findings is still underway.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is campaigning alongside the WHO to address this growing concern.

Previous programs to curb the spread of vector-borne diseases have proven successful, for example, the United States’ effort to combat malaria.

Malaria is the most deadly of vector-borne diseases, killing 1.2 million people every year. Multiple campaigns have been launched to prevent the spread of this disease, including the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. PMI has distributed more than 120 million bed nets since 2006, as well as delivered more than 135 million doses of combination drug therapy.

These success stories provide hope for current efforts to control other vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever and schistosomiasis.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: Mission of the United States, Voice of America

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The Poop Guy

Some would say that Swapnil Chaturvedi was living the American dream. A graduate from Northwestern University, he held a software engineering job and lived comfortably in America with his wife and daughter.

Then in 2007, he returned to his native India where he realized his true purpose in life was to help the country’s poor. On his trip he witnessed and questioned the enormous income disparity and the lifestyle discrepancies between the poor and the rich. He was appalled by India’s lack of basic sanitation.

Almost 626 million of the 1.2 billion individuals in India do not have access to a working toilet. Defecating in the open can create extremely unsanitary conditions, leading to diseases and malnutrition. Even when there are working toilets, women and girls choose to not use them because those communal restrooms often leave them exposed to harassment and attacks by men.

“What does GDP mean for a woman who has to spend over an hour to find a place to defecate?” asked Chaturvedi. “Who is responsible for providing the most basic services to the urban poor?”

The locals of Pune, India, call Chaturvedi the Poop Guy. In 2011, he founded Samagra Sanitation, a company based in Pune that provides sanitation services to the urban poor. The company increases ventilation, availability and overall cleanliness of the existing communal toilets and encourages locals to improve their hygiene routines. It currently services three slums in Pune and provides cleaner toilets to more than 3,300 individuals on a daily basis.

With a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chaturvedi also developed a toilet that converts human waste into electricity and fertilizer. However, because of a lack in funding and incentives, the project will not  reach many people.

Wanting to reach more Indians, Chaturvedi turned to India’s cell phone usage for help by connecting two seemingly unrelated figures. While only 626 million out of 1.2 billion individuals in India have access to working toilets, 800 million Indians have cellphones. He created Poop Rewards, a startup that “creates an incentive program using cell phone talk minutes and other prizes to convince Indians that don’t have easy access to toilets to use designated public toilets in their area.” This system motivates individuals by adding rewards programs along with improved sanitation services.

Chaturvedi explains his motivation for creating better sanitary conditions in India; “There is only one reason: for a woman’s dignity. It goes back to me being a father of a girl child…when I look at my daughter and I think about her future, this is the kind of service I would like her to have.”

Chaturvedi’s efforts are changing sanitary habits among India’s poor. While there is still a long way to go, his ideas are facing the problems caused by extreme poverty and a lack of access to sanitation services head on. Although India’s economy is growing rapidly, millions of its citizens are stuck in poverty. Chaturvedi recognized that although he alone could not change that fact, he could contribute his services and his determination to alleviate the effects of poverty on India’s urban poor.

– Sarah Yan

Sources: Huffington Post, Gigom, The Kids Should See This, Mental Floss
Photo: Business Outlook India