Toilet's out of sight, out of mind until one can't be found.

But just like health care and nutrition, access to a clean toilet has enormous health consequences.

More than a million people die every year from diseases tied to poor sanitation,

and millions more suffer illness, stunting and lifetime

debilitations. All told, 55% of the global population lacks access to safe

sanitation and for those trying to solve this problem lacks access to safe sanitation.

And for those trying to solve this problem,

the biggest barrier may not be funding or technology.

But culture.

I'm Gabriel Sierra, and this is why it matters. Today, toilets.

November the 19th is World Toilet Day.

The day aims to end the global sanitation crisis.

This is a situation for billions of people around the world. So World Toilet Day is coming up and the response to

hearing that there is a serious UN sponsored day for toilets might make people

laugh or feel a little iffy on discussing it, so why would we need a day like that?

Well, what would you do if you didn't have a toilet?

Fair point. This is Brooke Yamakoshi. She's a water, sanitation, and hygiene specialist at the United Nations Children's Fund, also known as UNICEF, based in New York. She knows a lot about toilets.

I mean, the ability to manage our bodily functions

and these things that we frequently don't talk about

but are so core to us, bodily functions of urination, defecation, and for half

the population menstruation. It's really at the core of our dignity.

It's also a foundation for health without a toilet that contains waste and then separates it from people coming in contact with that waste.

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