Use of improved sanitation facilities Situation and trends The
world is unlikely to meet the MDG sanitation target and in 2011,
2.5 billion people remained without access to improved
sanitation facilities. A staggering, 1 billion people (15% of
the world population) remain with no access to toilets, latrines
or any form of sanitation facility, and had no other choice than
to defecate in the open, resulting in high levels of
environmental contamination and exposure to the risks of
microbial infections, diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera),
trachoma, schistosomiasis and hepatitis. Encouraging progress
has been made, 1.9 billion people gained access to improved
sanitation facilities between 1990 and 2011.