Dahai ZHAO’s Comments on China's "Toilet Revolution"
2020/11/20 9:32:09
On November 19, 2020, Zhao commented on the necessity and purpose of China's toilet reform and the future development of China's toilet revolution on “China 24” of CGTN.
Anchor: Why's the promotion of toilet reform necessary for China? What's the original intention behind it?
ZHAO: First, the toilet is known as one of the ten inventions that have the greatest impact on human beings in the 20th century, and has played an important role in improving the living environment of human beings. If there were without the toilet, it would be impossible for people to have the clean water. Only if there is a toilet, a large number of infectious diseases such as Cholera, dysentery, even COVID-19 can be tackled. Second, a large number of Chinese people live without access to safely managed sanitation. According to the statistics, at least 20% of Chinese people live without access to toilets. The toilet in rural areas of China has become one of the most important milestones whether the objectives of Healthy China and Rural Reconstruction of China have been realized. Therefore, it is really necessary to promote the toilet reform in China. Further, the original intention behind the toilet reform is to improve the overall level of national public health conditions.
Anchor: China has been actively promoting a "toilet revolution" during the recent years. Do you think enough efforts had been made? What are some challenge and areas to improve?
ZHAO: China has really made great achievements in the toilet revolution during the recent years. However, it is not enough. First, there is a huge imbalance between rural areas and urban areas. For the most majority of urban areas, the toilet is pretty popular; however, in rural areas, about 30% of families live without access to toilets.Second, China’s toilet revolution is at the low level of development of the safely managed sanitation. Actually, wastewater and sludge from toilets contain valuable water, nutrients, and energy. Sustainable sanitation systems make productive use of waste to safely boost agriculture and reduce and capture emissions for greener energy. This is why the theme of world toilet day in this year remarks the importance of "Sustainable sanitation and climate change". Therefore, China has to face the challenges of the second-wave of toilet revolution, the sustainable sanitation. There is still a long way to go for the toilet revolution in China.
Dahai Zhao, a doctoral supervisor at the School of International and Public Affairs of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Executive Director of Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Yale University Joint Research Center for Health Policy, has been interviewed by CGTN for the 39nd time (the 62nd time by CGTN / ShanghaiTV) since the COVID-19 pandemic.