Latrine Use: Prevalence, Motivators and Interventions

In 2015, approximately 2.4 billion people worldwide did not have access to improved sanitation facilities. Seventy percent of people lacking access to these facilities live in rural areas. The resultant open defecation, 90% of which occurs in these same rural areas, often leads to contaminated water, hands, and household environments.

Lack of access to improved sanitation may increase the risk of diarrheal diseases, parasitic infections, and environmental enteric dysfunction. The lack of improved sanitation also results in unsafe and/or unhygienic spaces for women and girls to change and dispose of sanitary napkins during menstruation. Whereas 2.4 billion persons lack access to improved sanitation, there are others who have access to such facilities but either do not use them consistently, for their intended purposes, or do not use them at all. Our objectives are to describe the prevalence of latrine use, to identify the motivators and barriers to use, and interventions designed to decrease open defecation and increase latrine usage.