Did you know that November 13 is World Toilet Day? This campaign was established in 2001 to motivate millions around the world on issues of sanitation. In 2013, it has grown in scope by becoming a UN international day.

This year, World Toilet Day will focus on the toilet sanitation problem in schools across the globe that leads to 443 million missed school days.

According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), diseases caused by unsanitary toilets in schools together with poor sanitation and hygiene practices make children around the world miss an estimated 443 million school days each year. In the Philippines, this number of sick days is equivalent to all grade school and high school classrooms being empty for one month. This sanitation-related concern hinders the children’s learning and significantly reduces their quality of life.

Illnesses due to poor toilet sanitation include diarrhoeal disease (the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years old) and parasitic worm infections which can lead to nutritional deficiencies, physical and mental stunting, and even death. Every day, millions of children in rural communities and urban households nationwide are exposed to these health problems by using dirty toilets populated by disease-carrying germs.

According to Dr. Luisa Efren of the Philippine Public Health Association (PPHA), the simple act of proper toilet sanitation can help prevent the spread of these germs. However, children continue to be at risk from these deadly diseases because many households still use ordinary laundry bleach to clean their toilet bowls, which is not enough to kill all toilet germs.

“A toilet that looks clean to the naked eye may not necessarily be free from germs and bacteria. So, it is very important to properly sanitize all surfaces using a germ-kill expert with proven efficacy in eliminating bacteria, and not just any ordinary laundry bleach,” Dr. Efren warned.

Unilever Philippines through its germ-kill expert brand Domex, has been working with UNICEF and PPHA to champion the One Million Clean Toilets Movement in the past three years. This advocacy program aims to educate Filipinos on proper toilet hygiene and the need for sanitized household toilets to keep their families safe against disease-causing germs.

On November 13, World Toilet Day, let us join the One Million Clean Toilets Movement in the fight against disease causing germs to save lives, one clean toilet at a time. You can help this campaign by spreading awareness on the sanitation issue caused by unsanitary toilets by talking about it on social media. Include the following hashtags in your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram posts: #1MCleanToilets and #WorldToiletDay. You can also share the “Sick Days” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypMNHyUwQOQ) to increase awareness about this alarming problem in schools across the country.

To learn more about Domex and how you can stay safe from disease with a germ-free home, visit Domex Philippines on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DomexPhilippines).