Rural sanitation in Andhra Pradesh ; some progress on toilets…much less on use

Sanitation is one of the biggest challenges in India’s development, and one of its weakest links because failure has the potential to undermine health and economic progress. Despite a decade of effort by the Government of India and by state authorities, almost three quarters of the rural population still defecate in the open. Some of those who do so have a government subsidised toilet which they keep empty or use for storage. The effects of poor sanitation are well documented. Unsafe sanitation
and poor hygiene are critical factors in the epidemics of diarrhoea which bring death to children under five and blight the lives of millions. The economic losses for India have been estimated at US$ 600 million (Rs. 29 billion) a year. Lack of clean and hygienic toilets in schools is a factor in ending education prematurely for adolescent girls. [authors abstract]