Economics of Sanitation : Contemporary Rural Women Study

Health and hygiene of an individual is fundamentally dependent upon adequate availability of drinking water and proper sanitation. Consumption of unsafe drinking water, improper disposal of human excreta, improper environmental sanitation and lack of personal and food hygiene have been major causes of many diseases in developing countries. Amazingly, around 2.5 billion people in the world still do not have access to proper sanitation, including toilets or latrines, which have serious consequences on human health, dignity and security, the environment, social and economic development. Open defecation is a major health hazard and causes enormous hardship, especially to rural women. 

Investing in sanitation makes investments in education more effective; girls are more likely to go to school and stay in school when girls-friendly toilets are available. Every $1 invested would give an economic return of between $3 and $14, people without basic sanitation defecate in the open, exposing themselves to ridicule, shame for women and girls, the risk of attack. Improved sanitation brought multiple economic benefits-avoiding illnesses (saved from healthcare expenses) and a decrease in work days lost to illness and a longer lifespan. The book covers wide variety of aspects like Importance of the Sanitation, World and Indian Scenario, Socio Economic Conditions, Health Care and Sanitation Conditions of the Women, Case Studies, Inadequate Sanitation and Women Health Problems and Economic burden. This book helps to students, researchers, teachers and policy makers in the field of Sanitation.