Happy Toilet Day!!!

I didn't even know it was "World Toilet Day" but apparently it is.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

World Toilet Day was launched by lavatory makers about a decade ago, but now focuses more on the developing world. The World Toilet Organisation held its annual conference in Belfast this year.

Actually, there is a serious point behind the commemoration.

The report says about 2 million people a year - mainly children - die from diarrhoea, chiefly as a consequence of poor sanitation.

...
Overall, 2.6 billion people - or about 40 per cent of the world's population - are without hygienic toilets.

Read it here.

When you run the numbers an estimated death rate of 2 million people out of 2.6 billion isn't that high. Inadequate toilet facilities, by these industry estimates, rank far below other major causes of death in the underdeveloped world. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be concerned, but that other problems might have higher priorities.

For potential solutions to the toilet shortage check out here, and here.