Go to Toilet Eliminate #OpenAirDefecation See what the #UNICEF says.

"Around 595 million people, which is nearly half the population of India, defecate in the open. India accounts for 90 per cent of the people in South Asia and 59 per cent of the 1.1 billion people in the world who practise open defecation. 

Open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of children in India. The practice is the main reason India reports the highest number of diarrhoeal deaths among children under-five in the world.  Every year, diarrhoea kills 188,000 children under five in India. Children weakened by frequent diarrhoea episodes are more vulnerable to malnutrition, stunting, and opportunistic infections such as pneumonia.

About 43 per cent of children in India suffer from some degree of malnutrition. Diarrhoea and worm infection are two major health conditions that affect school-age children impacting their learning abilities. Open defecation also puts at risk the dignity of women in India. Women feel constrained to relieve themselves only under the cover of dark for reasons of privacy to protect their dignity.

Open defecation exposes women to the danger of physical attacks and encounters such as snake bites.  Poor sanitation also cripples national development: workers produce less, live shorter lives, save and invest less, and are less able to send their children to school." - Says the UNICEF site.

All of us are a personal witness to this ugly scene, even if we have never been to a rural area, we have seen this while travelling by a train. We have become so used to this unhealthy and extremely dangerous practice, or so apathetic to the large number of our compatriots indulging into it and the hazards thus faced by them that we do not feel it necessary to talk about the issue.

LEAD Trust has decided to launch an awareness campaign against the unhealthy practice.

We will keep you informed through the LEAD Events page, which you may kindly keep checking. If you support us in our initiative kindly help us in spreading the word by sharing, +1ing,  tweeting, emailing, blogging, pintresting (just hit the buttons below the text) and discussing about this page. If you have some idea to share or wish to volunteer or sponsor the activity you are welcome to contact us.