Meet to discuss sanitation problems from October 9

For the first time ever,a global conference to facilitate interaction between experts and policymakers across developing nations like India to combat problems of sanitation and hygiene will be held in Mumbai from October 9 to 14.

For the first time ever,a global conference to facilitate interaction between experts and policymakers across developing nations like India to combat problems of sanitation and hygiene will be held in Mumbai from October 9 to 14.

The focus of the conference called Global Forum on Sanitation and Hygiene,hosted by Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and co-hosted by the Government of India and Government of Maharashtra,is the impact of sanitation on economics and education. According to a recent World Bank study,the economic impact of poor sanitation on India was around 6.4 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Poor sanitation is costing developing countries between 3 and 7 per cent of GDP, said Anna Tibaijuka,chair of WSSCC. Improved access to toilets has the potential to decrease healthcare costs,improve productivity,increase earnings from tourism and promote greater educational attainment,especially among girls.

According to data from various United Nations sources,1.2 billion people around the world practice open defecation,of which 87 per cent live in rural areas. Over half of the open defecators live in India. The conference will emphasise on how the simple act of washing hands can save lives around the world,how education of the girl child will receive an impetus by building separate washrooms for them and how waste can be turned into earnings by biogas-generating toilets and other such innovations.

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