The lack of maintenance of school toilets costs the world billions of dollars mainly because of the health issues that come with poor cleanliness, like faster transmission of diseases such as worms and diarrhea, according to a new report.
“Tackling Toilet Loss,” released this week, studied the impact of the lack of maintenance of school toilets in four countries: Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and Ecuador. It found that the societal costs added up to $10 billion in those countries alone between 2015 and 2021, largely due to the knock-on effect on health care costs.
The report — published by Economist Impact, the partnerships division of the Economist Group, and sponsored by Unilever — comes as access to safe and clean sanitation remains one of the farthest behind Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, with the United Nations recently saying a “major boost” was needed to reach the target by 2030. The report makes a financial case for governments not only to build school toilets but to invest in operations and maintenance, too, saying that would yield billions of dollars worth of net benefits every year.
About the author
Alessio Perrone
Alessio Perrone is a freelance editor and reporter at Devex. Throughout his career, he has reported on issues at the intersection of policy, environment and human interest for outlets including The Guardian, Scientific American, TIME, and others. He’s based in Milan, Italy.
