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Public toilets and their potential impact on an individual's health

20 June 2024
Volume 33 · Issue 12

Abstract

In modern society, people engage in social interactions and activities outside their own home. When in public settings people may need to eliminate bodily waste, so public toilets are required. Accessibility, availability and adaptability are essential principles for safe, private, and purposeful visits to public toilets. A diverse range of individuals use public toilets: various age profiles, all gender groups, vulnerable individuals and people with additional needs. Public toilets essentially need to be a place of privacy, safety and cleanliness to facilitate elimination of urine, evacuation of faeces, management of menstruation, and changing/disposing of continence wear products in a secure environment.

A recent United Nations (UN) report highlighted concerns regarding sanitation in places outside a person's home, in locations such as schools, hospitals, clinics, prisons, workplaces and public spaces (Heller, 2019). Public toilets fulfil a crucial basic human need, serving distinctive and diverse groups of people including adults, children, teenagers, transgender individuals, persons with disability, individuals experiencing homelessness, people who menstruate and older persons (Stanwell-Smith, 2010).

The World Health Organization (WHO) strategy highlights that access to safe, clean toilets is crucial for promoting public health (WHO, 2019). However, users of public toilets may feel apprehensive when they identify the need to use these facilities, because of concerns about availability and accessibility, cleanliness and safety (Camenga et al, 2019; Moreira et al, 2021).

People with additional needs make up approximately 15% of the global population (WHO and World Bank, 2011), unfortunately they face physical and social obstacles in accessing sanitation facilities, potentially preventing them from attending school, engaging in employment and using public services and amenities (Groce et al, 2011). Toilets should be safe places to visit, with physical and social barriers removed that could prevent people from using them – the principles of privacy, safety and cleanliness are essential prerequisites (Greed, 2016; Jaglarz, 2019).

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