Avyay's Social Science Blog of Sanitation

  Sanitation  refers to  public health  conditions related to clean  drinking water  and  'treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage.   Preventing  human contact with  feces  is part of sanitation, as is  hand washing  with soap. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the  transmission of disease , especially through the  fecal–oral route.  For example,  diarrhea , a main cause of  malnutrition  and  stunted growth  in children, can be reduced through adequate sanitation.  There are many other diseases which are easily transmitted in communities that have low levels of sanitation, such as  ascariasis  (a type of intestinal worm infection or  helminthiasis ),  cholera ,  hepatitis ,  polio ,  schistosomiasis , and  trachoma , to name just a few.