Imagine you are miles from the nearest restroom, and nature’s call is urgent – a situation that might raise a mild panic during a hike or at a music festival. Now, picture that same scenario, not as a one-off inconvenience, but as a daily reality. This is the case for about half a billion people globally.
In African countries, the issue of open defecation often goes unaddressed by society and policymakers despite its negative impact on health, economic development, dignity and the environment.
Led from Queen’s University Belfast, a team of multidisciplinary researchers aimed to evaluate how prevalent the practice is in African countries and which social factors are driving it. We also aimed to establish which communities were in most urgent need of interventions.
