Sanitation is fundamental to human development. Many international organizations use hygienic sanitation facilities as a measure for progress in the fight against poverty, disease, and death. Access to proper sanitation is also considered to be a human right, not a privilege, for every man, woman, and child. Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on people's health. Improvements in sanitation can reduce diarrheal disease, and can significantly lessen the adverse health impacts of other disorders responsible for death and disease among millions of children. Diarrhoea and worm infections weaken children and make them more susceptible to malnutrition and opportunistic infections like pneumonia, measles and malaria. The practice of “open defecation” leaves faeces exposed in ways that can easily lead to other people coming into contact with faecal pathogens.

The percentage of the population practising open defecation is defined as the proportion of the population who usually don’t use any kind of toilet facility for defecation. Those using unimproved sanitation facilities like pit latrines without slab, open pit, or hanging latrines, are not counted as practising open defecation.

Location (urban/rural), Socioeconomic status (wealth quintiles)

Data on use of sanitation facilities are routinely collected in household surveys and censuses. Commonly, a question is asked such as “what kind of toilet facility do members of your household usually use”, and a response such as “no facility / bush / field” is classified as open defecation.

Outcome

The JMP assembles, reviews and assesses national data collected by statistics offices and other relevant institutions including sectoral authorities. Linear regression is used to provide estimates of the proportion of the population practising open defecation. Separate estimates are made for urban and rural areas, and national estimates are generated as weighted averages of the two, using population data from the most recent report of the United Nations Population Division. The most recent household survey or census available for most countries was typically conducted two to six years ago. The JMP extrapolates regressions for two years beyond the last available data point. Beyond this point the estimates remain unchanged for up to four years unless coverage is below 0.5 per cent or above 99.5 per cent, in which case the line is extended indefinitely. For more information see https://washdata.org/monitoring/methods/estimation-methods Predominant type of statistics: adjusted and predicted

Regional and global estimates are weighted averages of the country data, using the population for the reference year as the weight. No estimates are reported if less than 50 per cent of the population in the region or world are covered.

N/A

Biennial (Two years)