From the moment our children are born we want to protect them, to wrap them up and to be their protecters.  Here in the developed world we take basic hygienic like flushing the toilet for granted. We don’t fear disease from our waste products, yet in the developing world the risk of disease due to the lack of basic sanitation is extremely high. 

 

Sanitation is a life and death issue, its shocking that ;-

• Over 37% of the global population lack access to basic sanitation

•  2.5 billion people do not have access to basic toilets.

•  Over one million children every year don’t make it to their fifth birthday because diseases caused by poor sanitation.

•   1.1 billion people have no sanitation facilities at all and practice open defection the riskiest sanitation practice of all.

 

Today sees the launch of a new partnership between UNICEF and Domestos and The Unilever Foundation.  By supporting UNICEF’s Community Approaches to Total Sanitation Programme (CATS) Domestos and the Unilever Foundation aim to improve the health and well- being of those in need and create sustainable approaches to improved sanitation programmes that promote good hygiene practices, help create demand for access to toilets, and raise awareness of the sanitation crisis.

From the 1st July to the 30th September 2012 here in the UK and Ireland, Unilever will give 2p for every specially marked Domestos bottle sold to UNICEF UK.

Domestos is sold in 35 countries worldwide and is Unilever’s leading toilet hygiene brand, it has helped protect families from germs for more than 80 years. As such the brand is uniquely positioned to help address the sanitation crisis. 

The Unilever foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life through the provision of hygiene, sanitation, access to clean drinking water,basic nutrition and enhancing self-esteem. The foundation is one action Unilever is taking to meet its goal of helping more than 1 billion people improve their health and well- being and in turn, create a sustainable future.

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through to adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for boys and girls, and protecting children from violence, exploitation and aids. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. 

 

 

David Bull, UNICEF UK Executive director said,

 

“It is completely wrong that billions of people across the world still don’t have access to the most basic toilet, even though we consider it the one household item that we could’t live without in the UK. Being able to use a toilet is no joke. Poor sanitation leads to illness, causes children, especially girls, to miss out on school, and in many cases leads to death.”

 

How true are David’s words, diseases caused by lack of sanitation contribute to the deaths of 3,000 children every day. Yes you did read that right, 3,000 deaths every day.

 

David Bull continues 

 

“We are thrilled to be working with Domestos so we can reach thousands of children and their families with better sanitation facilities, so that they really can survive and thrive.

 

Through the support of the Unilever Foundation and Domestos, the partnership with UNICEF will result in an estimated 400,000 people living in open defecation free communities across nine countries; Gambia, Ghana, Nicaragua,Nigeria, Pakistan,Philippines,South Sudan,Sudan and Vietnam.”

 

Wow 400,000 people having access to basic sanitation how amazing would that be.

 

 

A survey of UK Mums was asked to rate which one of the seven essential household items they felt they could not live without;

A overwhelming 71% said that the toilet was the one thing they could not live without.

In comparison , only 10% said they couldn’t cope without their washing machine and 6% their refrigerator.

 

Though over two fifths (44%) of the mums surveyed said that their idea of a sanitation crisis is running out of loo roll.

This research highlights the great differences between access to proper and essential sanitation facilities, between UK Mums who take their toilets for granted, compared to mums in developing countries. For example those in South Sudan which has one of the highest worst access rates to sanitation facilities in the world where less than 10% of the population use a toilet or latrine. 

 

So what can we do to help it easy simply just add one (or more) of the specially marked bottles of Domestos to your weekly shopping and Domestos will contribute 5% of its average proceeds from the sale to UNICEF’s CATS programme, 

 

Then spread the word, tell your Mom,Gran, Dad, Granddad, family, friends even make it your Facebook status or a tweet, maybe share this blog post so that others can be informed.

 

 

I always say knowledge is power and to add to your knowledge let me share a little more with you.

 

Question

 

Which of the following do you think contains more germs?

 

1. Adult poo

2. Children’s poo

3. They both contain the same

 

Answer 

 

1. Children’s poo, actually contains many more germs than adult poo. 

   Remember that next time you are changing a nappy.

 

 

Question

 

What do you think is the main cause of so many people lacking access to a toilet?

 

1. People are not aware of the link between poor sanitation and poor health so do not understand how a toilet prevent potentially life threatening diseases.

2. Lack of money and resources to build toilets

3. Both

 

 Answer

1. Both

 

Therese Dooley, UNICEF Senior Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Advisor says, “A mum in the developed world doesn’t even have to think about protecting her child from faeces because her home has access to water based systems in that when anyone flushes the toilet – waste is just gone. But in the developing world, the environment in which you’re living has a lot of faeces – animal and human. However, it’s often the case that mothers are unaware of the link between faeces and their child’s health. They don’t realise that germs from faeces can reach their child   and cause her child to have diarrhoea. If they did, they would jump at the chance of removing that danger and would do something about it. Through CATS we’re not telling communities what they should do to improve sanitation; we’re stimulating the realisation of the link between hygiene in the home and elimination of open defecation to improved health.” Money and resources can also be a major barrier to improved sanitation. 

 

 

Question 

On average, how many bacteria are there in poo?

1. 100

2. 1,000,000

3. 1,000,000,000,000

 Answer

C) 1,000,000,000,000

 

Carolyn Jones, Unilever Global Expertise & Authority Manager, says, “Bacteria make up one third of the weight of an average human stool – that’s about a thousand billion bacteria. Of course, not all these bacteria pose a serious risk to your family’s health, but of the several hundred species of bacteria found in human excreta can cause diseases, including Salmonella spp, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphyylococcus aureus. Even if 99.9% of the germs in the toilet are washed away when you flush, that can still leave several billion in the toilet with the potential to make your family sick. Regular use of Domestos bleach destroys these germs, helping protect your family from the diseases they cause.”

 

I bet you are so glad I shared that knowledge with you.

 

Now go buy some Domestos and help  make a difference today.