Loos save lives : how sanitation and clean water help prevent poverty, disease and death / Seren Boyd.

Includes index.

Life-saving loos -- Where's the loo? -- Dirt and disease -- Handwashing and hygiene -- Toilet champions in Liberia -- Water and contamination -- Operation clean-up in Guatemala -- Extreme weather and natural disasters -- Loos and learning -- A fair deal for girls -- Privies = privacy and protection -- Humanure and poo power -- Toilet trivia -- A potted history of the toilet.

You probably use a toilet several times every day, flush, turn on the tap and then wash your hands - then forget all about it. But did you know that 2.4 billion people across the world don't have somewhere they can go to the toilet safely, and over 1 billion people don't have access to any kind of sanitation or clean water at all? Poor sanitation and restricted access to a toilet is more serious than you might think. It prevents children (and especially girls) from going to school, it means communities may have to walk miles to access safe drinking water and it kills. Poor sanitation means poor hygiene, which means illnesses and viruses are more easily spread. Going to the toilet out in the open puts people in a vulnerable position and carries a risk of attack from wild animals and people. Loos Save Lives unravels the facts about poor sanitation across Africa, Asia and parts of South America. It also highlights how the work of one charity - Toilet Twinning - is working hard to help communities build toilets and access safe drinking water, and educate people about the importance of washing your hands! The work they do actually transforms lives and you'll read case-studies of some of the projects they have helped to build. All in all this is a fascinating (and in equal measures lighthearted and serious) look at a very real problem facing a huge number of people.