Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene November - December 2016 vol.11 No.6 | Page 33

Sanitation

TOILETS HAVE THE POWER TO TRANSFORM
ECONOMIES

• Providing toilets to people in rural areas currently
practising open defecation is estimated to result
in benefits that exceed costs by between five and
seven times (Hutton 2015).
• In India, the time spent looking for a toilet or finding
somewhere to go in the open costs the economy
over $10 billion every year in lost productivity – 20%
of GDP (World Bank Group 2016).
• Diarrhoea caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation
and hygiene is linked to 50% of child undernutrition,
which can lead to stunted physical and mental
development (WHO 2008).
TOILETS IN THE WORKPLACE INCREASE
PRODUCTIVITY
Access levels to toilets in the workplace reflects
access levels to toilets in the home. Very little data
exists to tell us how many workers don’t have access

• A lack of toilets at work and at home has severe
impacts upon businesses through problems
in the workforce: poor health, absenteeism,
attrition, reduced concentration, exhaustion,
and decreased productivity (Business for Social
Responsibility (BSR) 2010).
• Meeting the 2015 Millennium Development
Goal target of 50% of people having access
to sanitation and safe water was estimated
to reduce sick days by 322 million every year,
representing an annual health sector saving
of $7 billion. (Stockholm International Water
Institute (SIWI), 2005).
• Globally, approximately $260 billion is lost each
year to the effects of poor sanitation and unsafe
water on many aspects of the economy, but
most significantly on healthcare (Hutton 2012).

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