World Toilet Summit to be held in India this year - organizers
Source: RIA Novosti - Russia
June 28, 2007 Author: staff
NEW DELHI, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - India will play host to the world's premier hygiene expo this year, organizers of the World Toilet Summit said Thursday.
The improbably named event will unfold in India's capital New Delhi between October 31 and November 3, with the slogan "A toilet for everyone" as its motto.
Industry representatives from over 40 countries will converge on the yearly trade fair to discuss the problems of standardization for public lavatories and their availability. Traditional themes of cleanliness, hygiene and new technologies will likewise be on the agenda.
Moscow was the venue for last year's show, where Russian entrepreneurs unveiled a unique double-seated public toilet that automatically cleans itself once it has been used.
Although the subject may at times provoke snickers, the British non-governmental organization Water Aid has said the issue of hygiene is a deadly serious one. With more than a third of the world's population lacking access to adequate sanitary facilities, the spread of illness and disease is often inevitable.
According to the organizers, among the nations in dire need of a so-called "toilet revolution" are Romania, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt and Morocco.
Doctors have said that rates of infant mortality in countries without proper sanitation could be dramatically reduced by installing a network of public facilities.
