While not a pretty topic, the world needs to do more about improving sanitation, hygiene, and access to clean toilets in poor regions, writes Peter Newborne, a senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, in London.

Writing on the think tank’s blog, Mr. Newborne says he hopes efforts like the United Nations Year of
Sanitation, which started this week, and World Toilet Day, which was Monday, will raise the profile of such issues despite a stigma about
discussing toilets.

He writes that “development practitioners around the world can expect to witness a renewed and more determined effort to make the case that providing better sanitation & hygiene facilities for poor households is a development priority – especially for the benefit of all the people who are currently without basic means to carry out a basic daily function. We all do it – even if we are coy at talking about it.”

What do you think? What can be done to improve sanitation around the world?