Academies Push For Sanitation and Science Literacy - NYTimes.com
The science academies from the Group of 8 industrialized nations have issued joint statements today in advance of the Group of 8 summit next week in Deauville, France.
The focal points are the connection between clean water and health, and the opportunities that attend widespread science literacy.
Along with the important boilerplate language on sanitation and pollution, I’m glad this statement includes the word defecation, which was explored here in a video, “Poop is Funny, But Fatal,” a couple of years ago. Here’s the passage on the enormous problem posed by having 2.6 billion people with no place to go (to the toilet):
Nearly 20% of the world population – mainly in rural areas- still practise open defecation, resulting in 300 million tons of untreated human excreta polluting fresh water resources each year. This contributes significantly to the transmission of more than 20 different infectious diseases. In addition, domestic animal populations and their excreta are increasing, as diets change to a higher meat intake. Furthermore, improper urban and industrial waste disposal threatens [...]
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