World Toilet Day

[Guest guest]

On World Toilet Day By SANJEEVANI YONZON

- Every year since 2001, 19th of November is celebrated as the World

Toilet Day. This year the World Toilet Summit was held in Belfast,

Ireland from 26th to 29th September. The participants contended that

a clean toilet was a basic human right.

Just think of this: when you go out to eat in a fancy restaurant, the

last thing that you would expect is to get a bad stomach or an

anthrax fever. But chances are there that you may get it if you visit

the " Rest Room " !! My sample testing during a study showed that all of

the restrooms of Kathmandu's popular restaurants and supermarkets

were swamped with pathogenic microorganisms.

Toilets act as the breeding grounds for germs. As multitude of people

use it, some of them could be infected with highly infectious

diseases. And unless they are properly cleaned periodically, there is

a high probability that the microorganisms shed in the toilet will

very easily infect another user- the potential host. Normal " bad

stomach " in most cases may very easily be a mild food poisoning,

caused by common bacteria.

But surprisingly, 98% of respondents in a survey of the same study

conducted in Kathmandu replied that they do not wash their hands

after using public toilets. The most common reason given was the

unavailability of water in the public toilets. Others replied that

they were not in the habit of doing so.

Highly touchable areas such as toilet seat, toilet paper dispenser,

hot water tap, cold water tap, sanitary napkin receptacle, toilet

door, door knobs, hand drier as well as drains and toilet tanks are

very likely to be the breeding grounds for pathogenic microorganisms.

Studies have shown that hot air driers are not sanitary; in fact hot

air jets actually increase the chance of infection as they eject a

number of bacteria out of their surfaces. Similarly, when a toilet is

flushed without closing its lid, water particles with microbes from

the faeces are propelled out from the toilet bowl. The microbial

aerosols can settle on any surface as far as six feet away from the

toilet and can last for several hours.

Nepal also had participated in last year's World Toilet Summit, held

in China with a lot of fanfare. Of course, the sanitary conditions in

Kathmandu have undoubtedly improved since the last year, especially

in places like Chabahil and Purano Bus Park. However, by and large,

the public toilets are still too few, maintenance too little and

users too many.

Washing hands with soap has found to be effective to wipe out almost

all bacteria from the hands. But there is no water or soap in our

public toilets. All combined - the threat of microbial infection

after using a public toilet in the metropolis is very high.

The government bodies concerned with public health and people in food

serving business must be more responsible and need to find practical

solutions that will reduce potential infections. Remedial measures

such as awareness about sanitation, implementing swinging doors that

will not require hand contacts in restaurants and so forth need to be

taken.

Well, there is a lot of work to be done. But in the mean time…folks,

let's just wash hands with soap and water every time after we use the

loo!

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php? & nid=57465

(The article is based on the report entitled " A Case Study of

Microbial Pollution In Public Toilets of Restaurants and Supermarkets

of Kathmandu " .)