Every year, World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis and encourage action to solve it. The goal set by the United Nation is to achieve safe toilets for all by 2023, as a part of their Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN also states that 3.5 billion people live without proper sanitation and many children also lose their lives due to poor sanitation and unsafe water. This is why World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness on this issue.

Theme

This year, the theme for World Toilet Day 2024 is "Toilets - A Place for Peace'. This focuses on the growing threat to sanitation that is caused by conflict, climate change, disaster and neglect. When there is a threat to using toilets, it can lead to many health risks.

Not using toilets for too long may lead to Urinary Tract Infection or UTI. For many who do not have access to clean toilets do not drink enough liquid or hold pee for too long. Doctors suggest that holding in pee for too long can cause bacteria to multiply and lead to UTI. By not drinking enough water, your bladder fails to tell the body to pee often, and can cause the bacteria to spread through the urinary tract, which can lead to infection.

Symptoms of UTI:

• Burning or stinging feeling while urinating
• Pain in pelvis or lower abdomen
• Constant urge to empty the bladder
• Strong or foul smelling urine
• Consistently dark urine
• Blood in urine

Holding in pee for too long can also cause your bladder to stretch, making it difficult or even impossible for the bladder to contract and release pee normally. It can also damage your pelvic floor muscles or could lead to kidney stones.

World Toilet Day History And Significance

To prevent such conditions, it is important that everyone has access to clean and safe toilets. In terms of history, the day was established in 2001, by the World Toilet Organization (WTO), which was founded by Jack Sim. However, it was officially recognised by the UN in 2013. The Government of Singapore worked with WTO to create the first UN resolution called Sanitation for All.

India too promotes safe and hygiene toilet through its Swachh Bharat Yojna.

According to the World Health Organisation, the global life expectancy has recovered to almost pre-pandemic levels, a significant public achievement, but the world is facing a growing burden from chronic diseases,

WHO's latest health estimates, which released recently, offer a glimpse into the pattern of life expectancy and disease burden between 2000 and 2023. It also says that while damages due to COVID-19 have been reversed, the world is grappling with a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

Global Life Expectancy Is Almost Back To 2019 Levels

Global life expectancy reached 73.3 years in 2023, compared to 73.4 years in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, the pace at which healthy life expectancy has recovered has been slow and steady. It stood at 62.8 years in 2023, which was still 0.4 years below the 2019 level.

This means people are living almost as long as they were before the pandemic, but the number of years they can expect to live in good health has not fully recovered.

Dr Alain Labrique, Director of WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI said, "Living longer is one of the great achievements of public health. The next challenge is to ensure that those additional years are lived in good health, while health systems are equipped to respond to the changing needs of populations."

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NCDs Account For 74% Of Global Deaths

The WHO data also depicted a growing share of deaths caused by NCDs. In 2023, NCDs accounted for 74% of all deaths globally, compared to 58% in 2000.

In fact, eight of the world's 10 leading causes of death were NCDs in 2023. These include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.

The change is not limited to wealthier countries. The shift in NCD-related deaths was visible across all income levels.

In 2023, for the first time, communicable diseases accounted for less than half of all deaths in low-income countries, showing how disease patterns are changing even in populations that have traditionally carried a higher burden of infectious diseases.

Also read: Japan Has 107,677 Centenarians; 88% Are Women: Challenges Of An Aging Population

Heart Disease Remains The World's Biggest Killer

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death worldwide. Ischaemic heart disease alone caused about 9.5 million deaths in 2023, along with an estimated 210 million disability-adjusted life years, a measure that combines years lost because of premature death and years lived with disability.

While there has been progress in reducing the burden of ischaemic heart disease in many parts of the world since 2000, the WHO noted increases in individual-level cardiovascular risk in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.

This highlights continuing differences in cardiovascular health between populations.

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Diabetes And Dementia Also Among Major Contributors

The WHO estimates point to growing concerns around other chronic conditions like diabetes and dementia. The risk of dying from diabetes has increased substantially since 2000, especially in South-East Asia.

Dementia has also landed among major causes of death globally. Alzheimer disease and other dementias became the fifth leading cause of death worldwide in 2023, compared to 19th in 2000. Global deaths from dementia tripled between 2000 and 2023, according to the WHO.

Mental Health Adds To The Burden

Between 2019 and 2023, the global age-standardised DALY (disability-adjusted life year) rate increased by approximately 20% for depressive disorders and nearly 45% for anxiety disorders. Together, these conditions were responsible for an estimated 110 million years of healthy life lost through premature death and disability in 2023.

Drug use disorders have also been observed across different trends across regions. Between 2000 and 2023, the WHO Region of the Americas recorded the largest increases in the risk of death linked to these disorders, while the Western Pacific region saw declines.

In a nutshell, the world has largely recovered the ground lost in overall life expectancy during the pandemic. But simply living longer does not necessarily mean we are living healthier. As populations age and infectious diseases account for a smaller share of deaths in many regions, health systems are increasingly required to manage conditions that often need long-term prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.

“The value of these estimates is not only in the numbers themselves,” said Dr Labrique. “By showing how causes of death and disease burden are changing over time and across populations, they give countries evidence to help shape health policies and priorities.”

“These capabilities are critical to better enable targeted, effective interventions and ultimately further improving health and well-being for all.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pirtobrutinib as a first-line treatment for adults with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) who do not have a known deletion of chromosome 17p.

The approval expands the use of the targeted cancer drug, which was previously approved for certain patients whose CLL or SLL had returned or stopped responding to earlier treatment. It is developed by Eli Lilly and Company and will be sold under the brand name Jaypirca.

More About Pirtobrutinib

CLL is a type of blood cancer in which the bone marrow produces too many abnormal B lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. These abnormal cells can build up in the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes.

SLL is closely associated with CLL, but the cancer cells are found mainly in the lymph nodes. CLL can progress slowly in some people, while others may develop more aggressive disease.

Pirtobrutinib is a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, a type of targeted therapy. BTK is a protein that helps B cells receive signals needed for their growth and survival. By blocking BTK, pirtobrutinib interferes with signals that cancerous B cells depend on.

Unlike older covalent BTK inhibitors, pirtobrutinib is a non-covalent, reversible BTK inhibitor, meaning it binds to BTK differently.

A dose of 200 mg once a day is recommended for newly diagnosed patients covered by this approval. It should be taken until the cancer progresses or side effects become severe.

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Findings From Pirtobrutinib's Trial

The FDA based its decision on the BRUIN CLL-313 trial, which included 282 adults with previously untreated CLL or SLL without a 17p deletion.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either pirtobrutinib or the chemotherapy combination bendamustine plus rituximab.

After a median follow-up of 28 months, the median progression-free survival could not yet be calculated for patients receiving pirtobrutinib because enough disease-progressing events had not occurred. In the bendamustine-rituximab group, median progression-free survival was 33.5 months.

The risk of disease progression or death was 80% lower with pirtobrutinib than with bendamustine plus rituximab in the trial, based on the reported hazard ratio of 0.20.

However, overall survival data are still not 100% reliable. There were 13 deaths at the time of the primary analysis - three in the pirtobrutinib group and 10 in the comparison group.

Also read: 21% In 80 Weeks: Lancet Study Finds Lilly’s Retatrutide Delivers One Of The Biggest Weight Losses Ever

Pirtobrutinib's Side Effects

The most common non-laboratory side effects reported with pirtobrutinib included:

• Upper respiratory tract infections
• Rash
• COVID-19

According to the FDA, side effects also include infections, bleeding, reduced blood cell counts, abnormal heart rhythms, other cancers, liver toxicity and harm to an unborn baby. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 28% of patients receiving pirtobrutinib in the trial.

The approval gives eligible people with previously untreated CLL or SLL another targeted treatment option that can be taken as a daily oral medicine.

Jennifer A. Woyach, MD, director of the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, said, “This approval is grounded in data from BRUIN CLL-313, which showed a significant delay in disease progression for pirtobrutinib compared to chemoimmunotherapy, along with safety and tolerability consistent with its established profile.”

The FDA's decision applies specifically to adults with previously untreated CLL or SLL without a known 17p deletion. It therefore does not mean that pirtobrutinib is automatically the first treatment for every person newly diagnosed with CLL.

UK hospitals are seeing an increase in COVID-19 activity as the SARS-CoV-2 XFG variant, dubbed “American Covid” or “Stratus,” circulates in the country.

According to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), COVID positivity in hospital settings increased from 5.9% to 7.0%. The weekly hospital admission rate also rose from 0.81 to 1.20 per 100,000, an increase of about 48%.

London recorded the highest increase among regions, with its COVID hospital admission rate rising by 79%.

More than half of the sequenced positive samples were reported to be XFG. Among people aged over 85, hospital admission rates increased from 7.08 to 12.43 per 100,000.

However, the true number of infections could be higher because fewer people are testing for COVID-19 than during the pandemic.

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What Is the XFG Variant?

XFG is a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variant formed from Omicron subvariants LF.7 and LP.8.1.2. The WHO records the earliest documented XFG sample on January 27, 2025, and designated it a variant under monitoring in June 2025.

The variant has since been detected in multiple countries and remains among the SARS-CoV-2 variants being monitored by WHO.

What Are the Symptoms of XFG?

COVID symptoms can vary between individuals. Reported symptoms associated with the current circulation of XFG include:

• Cough

• Fever

• Sore throat

• Headache

• Runny nose

• Fatigue

Some people may also experience muscle and joint aches, gastrointestinal symptoms as well as eye or chest infections, while others may have no symptoms.

London GP Dr Renée Hoenderkamp has highlighted symptoms including sore throat, headache, runny nose, fatigue and flu-like aches, Daily Mail reported.

Read More: WHO Sets 2027 Flu Vaccine Strains; US States Can Now Order Free COVID Shots For Kids

Does XFG Cause More Severe Disease?

There is currently no evidence that the variants circulating in the UK are causing more severe disease.

“There is no evidence that variants currently circulating in the UK are causing more severe disease,” Dr Siggins said. “However, COVID can still cause serious illness in those at greatest risk.”

The latest available figures cited in reports recorded seven deaths involving COVID in England in the week ending August 28, compared with six the previous week.

Older adults and people with underlying conditions remain more vulnerable to severe COVID.

How Worried Should We Be?

The current increase is not comparable with the waves seen during the height of the COVID pandemic. UKHSA classifies the current hospital admission rate as being at a baseline level.

“COVID is increasing, but from a low level, which is not unexpected at this time of year,” said Dr Matthew Siggins, lecturer in immunity and infection biology at the University of Surrey, according to reports.

WHO has assessed the additional public health risk posed by XFG as low at the global level. Current evidence does not indicate that XFG causes more severe illness or deaths than other circulating variants.

How Can You Protect Yourself?

People who develop a high temperature or feel particularly unwell should stay home and avoid contact with others while they recover.

People eligible for the autumn COVID vaccination are advised to get vaccinated to maintain protection against serious illness.

Most people have some immunity from previous infection, vaccination or both. However, immunity may decline over time and does not always prevent infection. Protection against severe disease is generally stronger.

WHO has said currently approved COVID vaccines are expected to continue providing protection against symptomatic and severe disease from XFG.