Every mother strives to do the best for their child - it’s a natural maternal instinct. However, mothers in some countries across the developing world don’t have access to something that we take for granted every day – a clean and proper toilet. We don’t have to worry about our waste contaminating our environment, we don’t have to worry about it making our children unwell, miss school or putting them at risk of fatal, devastating diseases – however 37% of the global population do. And sanitation-borne diseases contribute to the deaths of 3,000 children every day.

Domestos has an 80 year heritage, helping protect families from germs through quality sanitation products, and now, Domestos is joining forces with UNICEF to help improve access to basic sanitation by supporting UNICEF’s Community Approaches to Total Sanitation programme. Domestos, the Unilever Foundation and UNICEF will help improve access to sanitation for hundreds of thousands of people in nine countries around the world.

For more information about this partnership, visit www.domestosforunicef.com

1. How many people across the world do you think are estimated to live without access to a proper toilet?

1. 1 billion
2. 460 million
3. 2.5 billion

Answer: c. 2.5 billion

Therese Dooley, UNICEF Senior Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Advisor says, “It’s unthinkable that 37% of the world’s population don’t have access to a proper toilet. And when I say a proper toilet, I’m not necessarily saying that everyone has to have a nice bathroom with a flushing toilet. I just mean some place that is safe to dispose of your faeces, some place that will keep the faeces from getting into the living environment, some place that will stop children getting sick.” Diarrhoea is the second leading cause of death in children under five globally, accounting for 15% of mortalities. 88% of these are due to poor sanitation with 36% directly linked to not having a toilet.”

2. Which of the following do you think contains more germs?

1. Adult poo
2. Children’s poo
3. They both contain the same

Answer: b. Children’s poo.

Therese Dooley, UNICEF Senior Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Advisor says, “Many people do not consider a child’s faeces to be as dangerous as that of an adult. However this is untrue. Children’s faeces actually contain many more germs. Even in our own homes we often change a nappy without the strict hygiene concerns we would have with adult faeces. In the developing world children are often allowed to defecate in the surrounding household environment and it’s not considered dangerous because the family consider a child’s faeces to be safer.”

3. What do you think is the main cause of so many people lacking access to a toilet?

1. People are not aware of the link between poor sanitation and poor health so do not understand how a toilet can prevent potentially life threatening diseases
2. Lack of money and resources to build toilets
3. Both

Answer: C. Both.

Therese Dooley, UNICEF Senior Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Advisor says, “A mum in the developed world doesn’t even have to think about protecting her child from faeces because her home has access to water based systems in that when anyone flushes the toilet – waste is just gone. But in the developing world, the environment in which you’re living has a lot of faeces - animal and human. However, it’s often the case that mothers are unaware of the link between faeces and their child’s health. They don’t realise that germs from faeces can reach their child   and cause her child to have diarrhoea. If they did, they would jump at the chance of removing that danger and would do something about it. Through CATS we’re not telling communities what they should do to improve sanitation; we’re stimulating the realisation of the link between hygiene in the home and elimination of open defecation to improved health.” Money and resources can also be a major barrier to improved sanitation.

4. Where in the toilet are most germs found?

1. Toilet seats
2. In the toilet water
3. Under the toilet rim

Answer: Under the toilet rim

Carolyn Jones, Unilever Global Expertise & Authority Manager, says, “The toilet is considered to be one of the biggest germ threats in the bathroom, and the highest number of bacteria are found in the toilet under the rim. However, any surface that people come into contact with will affect them. Germs can fly up to two metres from the toilet with every flush and those germs can re-contaminate bathroom surfaces like the seat and flush handle. It is a good hygiene practice to keep the toilet, and all contact sites clean on a regular basis.

Domestos is one of the world’s best-selling, most effective germ killers. Domestos is a thick bleach product has the most effective chemical compound able to kill all types of germs, including all known bacteria, viruses and fungi.”

5. What is the likelihood of your child getting sick from touching unhygienic surfaces in the bathroom?

1. 3%
2. 45%
3. Unknown

Answer: Unknown

Carolyn Jones, Unilever Global Expertise & Authority Manager, says, “We can’t put a figure on the chances of your child getting sick, but we can advise you on how to prevent it happening. One study has shown that children touch surfaces and then touch their mouths 81 times per hour – one of the most common ways for germs to enter the body. To prevent your kids getting sick it is important to keep surfaces clean and regularly use germ-kill toilet bleach products, such as Domestos.”

6. How long can germs survive in the toilet?

1. Ten minutes
2. A week
3. Indefinitely

Answer: Indefinitely

Carolyn Jones, Unilever Global Expertise & Authority Manager, says, “In theory, germs could survive forever if they didn’t come into contact with a germ killing agent such as Domestos. In one study, scientists found Salmonella germs in the toilet one month after the family had been sick. This isn’t hard to believe when you know that one germ can multiply to two million germs in just seven hours. Using Domestos on a regular basis helps destroy these germs.”

7. On average, how many bacteria are there in poo?

1. 100
2. 1,000,000
3. 1,000,000,000,000

Answer: 1,000,000,000,000

Carolyn Jones, Unilever Global Expertise & Authority Manager, says, “Bacteria make up one third of the weight of an average human stool – that’s about a thousand billion bacteria. Of course, not all these bacteria pose a serious risk to your family’s health, but of the several hundred species of bacteria found in human excreta can cause diseases, including Salmonella spp, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphyylococcus aureus. Even if 99.9% of the germs in the toilet are washed away when you flush, that can still leave several billion in the toilet with the potential to make your family sick. Regular use of Domestos bleach destroys these germs, helping protect your family from the diseases they cause.”