Send in the Latrines - New York Times

If you want to appreciate how much progress the human race has made in the First World — but also how much work there still is to do elsewhere — consider Rose George's op-ed piece in today's Times, about the danger posed by the lack of sanitary facilities in "Myanmar" after the recent Cyclone Nargis:

... Food, shelter and clean water are what aid agencies emphasize. But human excrement is a weapon of mass destruction. A gram of human feces can contain up to 10 million viruses. At least 50 communicable diseases — including cholera, meningitis and typhoid — travel from host to host in human excrement. It doesn’t take much: a small child, maybe, who plays in soil where people have been defecating, then dips his fingers in the family rice pot. The aftermath of a disaster like Cyclone Nargis — with masses of weakened people on the move — is a communicable disease paradise. ... ¶ ...

In poor countries, diarrhea is the reason you find malnourished children in well-fed families. It's why millions of girls drop out of school, and why millions of dollars' worth of productivity is lost from workers sick with this week's bout of dysentery.

Good disposal of human excreta can reduce diarrhea by 40 percent. Washing hands reduces it still further. Health economists reckon that every dollar invested in sanitation can save $7 on health costs and lost productivity. No wonder the readers of The British Medical Journal last year voted sanitation the greatest medical milestone ever, over penicillin and anesthesia.

Send in the Latrines - New York Times, May 19, 2008 (emphasis and extra paragraphing added).

Comments

[Vera]

Which is why, when I think about the one modern convenience I'd like to have in the past if time travel were possible, I always choose modern sanitation.