--- title: One Billion People Still Practice Open Defecation description: One billion people around the world are forced to defecate in public, the United Nations said Thursday. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 39 million did not have access to toilets in 2012, which greatly adds to the risk for many infectious diseases canonical: https://time.com/92865/un-one-billion-people-still-poop-in-public/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T20:12:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:41.041Z article:section: Health og:title: One Billion People Still Practice Open Defecation og:description: One billion people around the world are forced to defecate in public, the United Nations said Thursday. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 39 million did not have access to toilets in 2012, which greatly adds to the risk for many infectious diseases og:url: https://time.com/92865/un-one-billion-people-still-poop-in-public/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb51bf8426e93f078/69868e8813c79f9414192024/public-defecation-un-report.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Public Defecation UN Report og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: One Billion People Still Practice Open Defecation twitter:description: One billion people around the world are forced to defecate in public, the United Nations said Thursday. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 39 million did not have access to toilets in 2012, which greatly adds to the risk for many infectious diseases twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb51bf8426e93f078/69868e8813c79f9414192024/public-defecation-un-report.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # One Billion People Still Poop in Public > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2ade28e0-bd48-4dd2-9829-085fc277d8c6&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Video: Meet the Dancing, Evil Mr. Poo [Watch (HLS stream): Video: Meet the Dancing, Evil Mr. Poo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3zRZQ1ZO.m3u8) (3:54)  _Published 2014-04-19. Unicef's 'Poo2Loo' campaign may seem a bit silly but it's sparked a conversation in India about a health crisis in a country of over 1.2 billion people._ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 8, 2014 8:12 PM UTC  Children ride a canoe across a polluted water body near the beach at the West Point Township in Monrovia, Liberia. The West Point Township or slum houses over 70,000 people. Water and sanitation condition in the slum is certainly less that adequate. Due to the lack of sanitary latrines, it is common for many residents of the West Point to defecate in open near the beach. Children ride a canoe across a polluted water body near the beach at the West Point Township in Monrovia, Liberia. The West Point Township or slum houses over 70,000 people. Water and sanitation condition in the slum is certainly less that adequate. Due to the lack of sanitary latrines, it is common for many residents of the West Point to defecate in open near the beach. Shehzad Noorani—The Canadian Press/AP by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 8, 2014 8:12 PM UTC One billion people around the world defecate in public, United Nations experts said Thursday, and while that number has gone down overall since 1990, it continues to be a major factor in the spread of fatal diseases. Launching a new study on drinking water and sanitation, the [U.N. said](http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/uk-health-defecation-idINKBN0DO1CC20140508) that rural, low-income communities run an especially high risk of contracting cholera, diarrhea, dysentry, hepatitis A and typhoid. Efforts to improve sanitation in poor countries has so far concentrated on building more latrines, the U.N. said, but many people don’t want to use them. “In all honesty, the results have been abysmal,” said Rolf Luyendijk, a statistician at the U.N. children’s fund UNICEF, Reuters reports. According to experts like Luyendijk, money would be better spent in educating people as to why human waste out in the open is a public health problem. The data also shows that defecating in public is continuing to rise in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria, where 39 million did not have access to toilets in 2012, a sharp increase from 23 million in 1990. \[[_Reuters_](http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/08/uk-health-defecation-idINKBN0DO1CC20140508)\] ## Transcript [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/92865/un-one-billion-people-still-poop-in-public/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/92865/un-one-billion-people-still-poop-in-public/"},"headline":"One Billion People Still Poop in Public","datePublished":"2014-05-08T20:12:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:41.041Z","description":"One billion people around the world are forced to defecate in public, the United Nations said Thursday. 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