Thread by @WHO

Millions of sanitation workers in the developing world are forced to work in conditions that endanger their health and lives, and violate their dignity and human rights:
Joint WHO/@ilo/@wateraid/@WorldBank report ahead of #WorldToiletDay 👉bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros Sanitation workers provide an essential public service that is key to safeguarding human health. They are often the most marginalised, poor and discriminated-against members of society, carrying out their jobs with no equipment, protection or legal rights bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros Sanitation workers are the people who do jobs such as
🧽 cleaning toilets
🧽 emptying pits and septic tanks
🧽 cleaning sewers and manholes
🧽 operating pumping stations and treatment plants
bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros Poor sanitation causes up to 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths annually and is linked to the transmission of other diseases like cholera, dysentery, typhoid, hepatitis A and polio bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros Sanitation workers often come into direct contact with human waste, working with no equipment or protection to remove it by hand. This exposes them to a long list of health hazards and diseases bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros Sanitation work is often informal and workers have no rights or social protections. Pay can be inconsistent or non-existent – some workers report being paid in food rather than money. Plus the work is often socially stigmatized and done at night bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros WHO is helping ensure countries focus on including protection of sanitation workers in national sanitation policies and on better risk-assessment and management at local levels bit.ly/3550Jpp

@ilo @wateraid @WorldBank @WHO_Europe @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHOEMRO @WHOSEARO @WHOWPRO @DrTedros To meet @GlobalGoalsUN to bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to everyone, everywhere by 2030, the world will need more sanitation workers operating in safe, healthy and dignified working conditions bit.ly/3550Jpp