Meet Poo Guru! She is flush with facts about toilets, sanitation, and their vital role in global health. This World Toilet Day, as we celebrate all kinds of loos and latrines, the Poo Guru is our guide. She aims to raise awareness and investment in sanitation. 

Across the world, billions of people cannot access basic sanitation. And when a community lacks sanitation, diseases like cholera, diarrhea, and typhoid can spread rapidly and often. Children are particularly vulnerable, and chronic infections can have long-term consequences for their futures. 

The power of toilets flows into other important global issues, too! Did you know that the sanitation also has a role in climate change solutions and gender equity? How about the toilet’s relationship to vaccines? Take a moment to tap into the wisdom of Poo Guru: 

Hygiene and sanitation are public health building blocks. Before medicines and vaccines, clean water and sanitation were on the front lines to prevent child illness and death. The revoLOOtion continues. 

Vaccines protect against waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera, which can thrive when sanitation is lacking. And together, sanitation and vaccines offer powerful prevention. At immunization appointments, health workers can also educate parents on hygiene and sanitation. 

Sanitation protects girls’ health, safety, and psychological wellbeing. When girls can access sanitation, communities reduce social stigmas and increase educational and economic opportunity.  

Climate impacts like flooding and water insecurity heighten the urgency for safe sanitation. As the world contends with climate change and urbanization, sanitation must be universal, flexible, affordable, and sustainable. 

Did you learn something new from Poo Guru? Share your newfound knowledge—and help raise awareness about the lifesaving promise of safe sanitation.  

From Poo Guru (and Team DefeatDD, too): Happy World Toilet Day!