Friday, April 16, 2010

India - A Country In Trouble

Here's a clear sign of India's troubles. Half the population have cell phones. Less than a third have access to a proper toilet.

In a nation with a growing population already exceeding 1.2-billion people, that's 800-million without "access" to proper sanitation. From AFP:

"..It is a tragic irony to think in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones," so many people "cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said UN University director Zafar Adeel.

...Proper sanitation "could do more to save lives, especially those of young people, improve health and help pull India and other countries in similar circumstances out of poverty than any alternative investment," Adeel said.

Poor sanitation is a major contributor to water-borne diseases, which in the past three years alone killed an estimated 4.5 million children under the age of five worldwide, according to the study.

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