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.

Harish Rana, the 32-year-old resident from Ghaziabad who had been in vegetative condition for the last 13 years has now been removed from ventilators and other life support systems. He has been shifted to a normal bed. As per news reports, his water tube too was removed and a cap was placed on his feeding tube.

As per the hospital sources, Harish Rana's condition is now stable. Following the Supreme Court's order, the medical board will monitor his condition. While his feeding tube has been removed, doctors are still administering brain-soothing medicines.

Harish Rana's parents are also staying with him in AIIMS Delhi. His parents and brothers have been receiving daily counselling.

AIIMS Delhi Is Prepared For India's First Passive Euthanasia

Harish Rana's case marks India's first passive euthanasia. To conduct the passive euthanasia, AIIMS Delhi has set up a specialized team headed by professor and head of the department of anesthesia and palliative medicine, Dr Seema Mishra, has been constituted to implement the process. The team comprises doctors from departments of neurosurgery, onco-anesthesia, and palliative medicine, and psychiatry.

Read: AIIMS Delhi Sets Up Team To Process India's First Ever Passive Euthanasia For Harish Rana

“The process generally involves withholding or withdrawing the nutritional support gradually while ensuring adequate pain relief. The patient is given palliative sedation so that he or she is not in distress. Life support measures such as artificial nutrition, oxygen and medications are slowly withdrawn. The aim is not to prolong nor hasten death,” Dr Sushma Bhatnagar, former head of the department of onco-anaesthesia, pain and palliative care, AIIMS-Delhi.

What Happened To Harish Rana?

It was in 2013 when he suffered severe head injuries after he fell from the fourth floor from his PG accommodation while he was studying at Panjab University. He had been bedridden ever since, and survived on feeding tube. His father filed a petition seeking passive euthanasia under the guidelines Supreme Court had laid down in 2018 under Common Cause judgment. This is the second time the parents have approached the apex court.

In 2024, the court also suggested that Rana could receive home-based care with support from the Uttar Pradesh government. The home-based care includes periodic visits by doctors and physiotherapists. The court suggested that in case home care was not feasible, he could be moved to Noida's district hospital. However, his parents have noted that his condition continued to worsen. Family advocate Rashmi Nandakumar also informed the bench that "nothing seems to be working out".

"He is falling ill quite often and is repeatedly admitted to hospital," she said. The advocate further added that the family only sought passive euthanasia, which is withdrawal of treatment, and not any active intervention.

Justice Pardiwala also read medical reports and observed, "Just look at the condition of the boy. It's pathetic."

Recent court ruling on this case involves a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan that allowed the withdrawal of life support for Harish Rana, a resident of Ghaziabad, who has been in a coma and kept alive on tubes for breathing and nutrition after sustaining severe head injuries following a fall from a building in 2013 in Chandigarh.

Meningitis outbreak in Kent University that infected a dozen of people have now further infected more people. The total number as of now is 27, as experts say that incubation period of the bacteria may lead to an increase in number of those who are sick. However, health officials, as per The Guardian report, believe that they have contained the fatal outbreak, with "no cases emerging that are not linked to the original cluster of 20".

Read: UK Meningitis Outbreak: 9-month-old Baby Battles For Life In Intensive Care

The bug that causes the infection has been identified as the known strain of meningitis B and MenB vaccines will be offered to 5,000 students living in the University of Kent halls of residence in Cantebury. While several reports claim that parents are rushing to pharmacies to get their children vaccinated, due to which there is a shortage of the MenB vaccines, health secretary, Wes Streeting has denied any such claims. "There is actually plenty of stock of vaccine supply in the country," he said.

Read: Meningitis Outbreak From Kent University Is Now A National Incident, Parents Fighting For Jabs Amid Low Stock

As per the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) official, people infected in Kent were the ones who visited a nightclub on 5,6 or 7 March. The officials, including NHS members and county council public health staff who have been tackling the outbreak believe that it has not been passed on to anyone outside the area. "All cases to date are linked to the current outbreak in Kent," said a UKHSA spokesperson, as reported by The Guardian.

Another official involved in the multi-agency response said, "We may have contained it. There are no cases popping up elsewhere that we know of – no cases that we know of outside the cluster – or not yet anyway. We are rolling out a vaccine and antibiotics and tracing contacts. So there’s nothing we’re not doing.”

Quickest-growing Meningitis Outbreak Ever

UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said the outbreak "looks like a super-spreader" event with "ongoing spread" through universities' halls of residence. She added: "There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing. I can't yet say where the initial infection came from, how it's got into this cohort, and why it's created such an explosive amount of infections."

She further said that in her 35 years working in medicine, healthcare, and hospitals, "This is the most cases I've ever seen in a single weekend with this type of infection". She added: "It is the explosive nature that is unprecedented here - the number of cases in such a short space of time." She also remarked that this was the "quickest-growing outbreak" she has ever seen in her career.

What Is Meningitis?

Meningitis is a serious medical condition that affects the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, the meninges. While fever is not always present, it is usually considered as one of the classic symptoms of meningitis. It is important to know the varied symptoms, causes, and treatments of meningitis for early diagnosis and proper management of the disease.

Meningitis is an infectious illness that brings about inflammation in the meninges. The most common cause of such inflammation is bacterial or viral infections, though other causes are also possible including fungal, parasitic, or non-infectious causes (autoimmune disease, head injury, or brain surgery). Meningitis may be caused by bacterial meningitis, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates can be so severe and bring about conditions like hearing loss, vision problems, and death if not received on time.

Nearly 90,000 bottles of children's ibuprofen have been recalled nationwide after complaints were made that the medication could contain a foreign substance. The federal health officials complained about the foreign substance due to which Strides Pharma Inc., headquartered in India recalled about 89,592 bottles of Children's Ibuprofen Oral Suspension, noted the US Food and Drug Administration.

The recall happened after reports of a gel-like mass and black particles were found in the products.

FDA Issues Class II Recall Against Children's Ibuprofen

The FDA has issued a Class II recall, which means the use of the affection medication could cause temporary or medically reversible health problems. It also translates to serious harm being considered remote.

FDA has three categories for recall, Class I, Class II, and Class II. Class I recalls usually mean high risk. This could mean that defective products could cause serious health problems or death. Class II is for moderate risk, which has been issued for children's ibuprofen. Class III is for products with low risk. This is for products that are unlikely to cause any adverse health consequence, but they violate FDA labeling or manufacturing regulations.

Read: E. Coli Outbreak Linked To Cheddar Cheese, 7 People In 3 States Affected

India-based Pharmaceutical Company Recalls Nearly 90,000 Bottles Of Ibuprofen

The India headquartered company Strides Pharma was manufacturing the product for Taro Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and the products were distributed across the United States.

The recalled medication is for the 100-milligram per 5-milliliter oral suspension sold in 4-fluid-ounce bottles. The affected lot numbers are 7261973A and 7261974A, with an expiration date of Jan. 31, 2027. The recall number is D-0390-2026.

Health officials have advised consumers who have the recalled ibuprofen to stop using it. The FDA however has not yet received reports of serious adverse health effects related to the recalls.

Previous Cases Where Indian Drugmakers Distributing To US Recalled Their Products

Certain products were recalled from the US market due to manufacturing relayed issues. These products were by Indian drugmakers Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Cipla. In an Enforcement Report by the FDA, it noted that the US-based arm of Mumbai-headquartered Sun Pharma has recalled more than 26,000 bottles of generic medicine used to treat dandruff and skin conditions that cause inflammation and itching. Sun Pharma, based in Princeton, New Jersey, recalled 24,624 bottles of Fluocinolone Acetonide Topical Solution after the product failed to meet impurity and degradation standards. The company also initiated Class III recall in US on December 30, 2025.

Also Read: Menopause Can Raise Alzheimer Risk In Women, Neurologist Warns

Cipla recalled over 15,000 syringes from the US market. Headquartered in Warren, New Jersey, the company recalled 15,221 pre-filled syringes of Lanreotide Injection due to the presence of particulate matter. Cipla also initiated a recall of Class II on January 2 of this year.