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Innovating the Toilet to Control Cholera

Bringing Sanitary Facilities to Rural Communities
Ghana | 2018
| Global Health
|

Disease and Indignity

Indoor plumbing and sewage treatment are non-existent in many parts of the developing world.

Even a basic cement-slab latrine costs $400 in Ghana, far more than many people in rural villages can afford. Forced to use the bathroom outside, they risk exposure to cholera, a disease that sickens millions and kills up to 143,000 people around the world each year. This is an especially serious problem in Ghana, where over 85 percent of people lack access to basic sanitation and 20 percent defecate in the open. The lack of bathrooms is particularly hard on people with disabilities in rural areas – who often have to roll a wheelchair over uneven terrain alone, or suffer the indignity of needing help to use the bathroom.

20,000

Digni-Loos purchased for those who cannot afford them

A Better Way to Go

Global Communities partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Ghana’s Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and local plastic maker Duraplast Ghana to reduce cholera by improving sanitation in rural villages.

Talking to local communities, they found that cement-slab latrines, in addition to being expensive, are difficult to maintain, smelly, and attract flies. The partners put their heads together to see if they could solve these age-old problems at a price Ghanaians could afford. They designed a plastic toilet that can be installed in an easily dug hole, has a ventilation pipe to make it more pleasant, can be moved and re-used when a pit is filled, and costs just $85.

Impact

Launched in 2017, this innovative toilet is now available across the country for purchase.

Owners are buzzing about how this toilet keeps the flies away and is easy to install, use, and keep clean. The Government of Ghana, with World Bank support, is buying 20,000 for those who cannot afford it. Distributing the toilet to impoverished and disabled villagers restores their dignity, so the inventors named it the “Digni-Loo.” Previous latrines were so bad that some villages returned to open defecation. But now, there’s real hope that the Digni-Loo will help rural families end this practice – and defeat cholera outbreaks – once and for all.

How Public-Private Partnerships Are Tackling the World’s Toughest Challenges
Over the last 25 years, American innovation and assistance has helped to cut extreme poverty in half and save millions of lives around the world. But that impact isn’t only seen abroad – the return on investment is also unmatched here at home. The State Department, USAID, and America’s development agencies are engaging new partners, catalyzing private sector resources, and leading new approaches to solve pressing global challenges in areas such as health, agriculture, and energy – creating new forms of public-private partnerships that maximize taxpayer dollars and increase our nation’s security and prosperity.

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