Related News
Aspirational living: get a toilet, says 'WTO' chief
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JACK Sim, founder of the World Toilet Organization, has a theory about why governments and people are so reluctant to talk about hygiene: it isn't cool.
"People demand a TV, not a toilet, because it is not aspirational or charismatic," said Sim, who does not hesitate to talk in graphic detail about the dangers of poor sanitation.
"Governments and people are not very receptive to being told they're dirty, that they need more toilets," said Sim on a visit to Mumbai, where more than half its 18 million residents live in slums and where the average ratio of people to toilets is 81:1.
In Mumbai, where teeming slums sit cheek by jowl with gleaming office blocks and luxury apartments, sanitation is not just a poor person's problem, said Sim, a native of Singapore.
"You are in such close proximity to slums, to people defecating and peeing in the open, that basically, you are walking in someone's poo," Sim said.
But the sight of people defecating by railway tracks or even by the roadside is so common that residents turn a blind eye to the problem and do not give it the seriousness it deserves.
"You see it long enough, and there is a basic acceptance that dirt is normal. But being repulsed by dirt, it's smell and sight is a natural defence against disease," Sim said.
With better sanitation in India, where thousands die of diarrhoea and gastro-intestinal disease, people will not fall ill so much, can work better and get out of poverty, Sim said.
In India, Sim's outfit, which he calls the WTO, works with several NGOs that build and maintain public toilets.
But they need to think beyond just building more toilets that are seldom maintained, he said.
WTO, along with consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever, has launched a pilot program on some premium Rajdhani Express trains to keep the toilets clean in return for advertising space.
"This is an example of market factors solving a big problem," said Carolyn Jones, global hygiene manager at Unilever.
"People demand a TV, not a toilet, because it is not aspirational or charismatic," said Sim, who does not hesitate to talk in graphic detail about the dangers of poor sanitation.
"Governments and people are not very receptive to being told they're dirty, that they need more toilets," said Sim on a visit to Mumbai, where more than half its 18 million residents live in slums and where the average ratio of people to toilets is 81:1.
In Mumbai, where teeming slums sit cheek by jowl with gleaming office blocks and luxury apartments, sanitation is not just a poor person's problem, said Sim, a native of Singapore.
"You are in such close proximity to slums, to people defecating and peeing in the open, that basically, you are walking in someone's poo," Sim said.
But the sight of people defecating by railway tracks or even by the roadside is so common that residents turn a blind eye to the problem and do not give it the seriousness it deserves.
"You see it long enough, and there is a basic acceptance that dirt is normal. But being repulsed by dirt, it's smell and sight is a natural defence against disease," Sim said.
With better sanitation in India, where thousands die of diarrhoea and gastro-intestinal disease, people will not fall ill so much, can work better and get out of poverty, Sim said.
In India, Sim's outfit, which he calls the WTO, works with several NGOs that build and maintain public toilets.
But they need to think beyond just building more toilets that are seldom maintained, he said.
WTO, along with consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever, has launched a pilot program on some premium Rajdhani Express trains to keep the toilets clean in return for advertising space.
"This is an example of market factors solving a big problem," said Carolyn Jones, global hygiene manager at Unilever.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
