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.

A problem in the heart may not just be confined to the heart. According to new guidelines, heart and kidney health may be more closely linked to each other than we realise. Heart disease can increase the strain on the kidney, creating a cycle that may raise the risk of serious complications.

New guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), developed in collaboration with the European Renal Association (ERA), are emphasising upon monitoring kidney health in people with cardiovascular disease more closely.

The recommendations, published in the European Heart Journal, are the ESC's first dedicated guidelines covering cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease together.

How Are The Heart And Kidneys Connected?

The heart pumps blood throughout the body, while the kidneys filter waste and excess fluid from the blood. Because the two organs are closely linked through blood flow, fluid balance and blood pressure, dysfunction in one can place additional stress on the other.

According to the ESC, chronic kidney disease can accelerate cardiovascular disease, while cardiovascular disease can also worsen kidney problems.

This can contribute to complications including heart failure, stroke, abnormal heart rhythms, and progression to kidney failure requiring dialysis.

The European Society of Cardiology estimates that around 100 million people in Europe have chronic kidney disease, which itself substantially increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Associate Professor Kevin Damman of University Medical Centre Groningen, who chaired the guideline task force, said, "The disability and lifetime lost to each disease are profound, but CKD can accelerate CVD and vice versa, resulting in cardiovascular events and the need for dialysis much earlier in life."

He added, "The good news is that there have been major advances over the last few years, which mean there are now several simple treatments that can substantially lower the risk of both cardiovascular and kidney complications."

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New Guidelines Recommend Two Kidney Tests

One of the biggest changes is an emphasis on earlier kidney screening in people with cardiovascular disease. The guidelines recommend assessing kidney health using two tests:

eGFR, calculated from a blood creatinine test, which estimates how well the kidneys are filtering blood.

Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), which checks albumin leaking into the urine, a sign of kidney damage.

The ESC recommends active screening, risk assessment and treatment of CKD among people with cardiovascular disease.

This is crucial as kidney disease can go unnoticed for years, especially when symptoms are absent. Detecting it earlier can help doctors identify people at higher cardiovascular risk and adjust treatment accordingly.

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Treating One Condition Can Help The Other

The new guidelines also stress that the presence of kidney disease should not unnecessarily delay appropriate cardiovascular treatment.

Instead, doctors may need to modify treatment and monitor patients more closely due to the additional kidney-related risks.

The guideline framework is summarised by STAMP: Screen, Triage and Address CKD Risk, Modify CVD management, and Plan health services.

The recommendations cover a wide range of cardiovascular conditions, including coronary disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.

British-Nigerian businessman and social media influencer Igho “Tiny” Ubiribo, 43, died after undergoing a cosmetic penis enlargement procedure in Bangkok, Thailand.

According to findings from a UK coroner’s inquest, Ubiribo, who was also known as Denisi or Ego, reportedly underwent the procedure on March 5, 2026, while travelling with his wife. The treatment involved injections containing hyaluronic acid and lidocaine.

What Happened?

According to reports on the inquest, Ubiribo developed chest pain and repeatedly lost consciousness later that day while receiving a massage.

He was taken to Sukhumvit Hospital in Bangkok, where his condition deteriorated rapidly. Doctors reportedly attempted CPR for more than 100 minutes, but he died before a CT scan could be completed.

A post-mortem examination in the UK subsequently found that he had suffered a pulmonary embolism, a potentially life-threatening blockage of blood flow in the lungs.

The coroner’s findings reportedly linked the fatal embolism to the substances injected during the cosmetic procedure. Reports say material consistent with the filler was found in the lungs.

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About Pulmonary Embolism

A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood vessel supplying the lungs becomes blocked, most commonly by a blood clot that has travelled from another part of the body.

It can cause sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, or fainting and can become fatal if the blockage is severe.

In Ubiribo's case, the coroner’s findings linked the embolism to material associated with the cosmetic injection rather than describing a conventional blood clot travelling from the legs, which is unusual.

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Can Penile Fillers Be Risky?

Complications can include infection, swelling, tissue damage, deformity, nodules, and vascular complications. If an injected substance enters a blood vessel, there can be potentially serious consequences.

The risks can also depend on the substance used, injection technique, the setting in which the procedure is performed, and the medical expertise and competence of the person administering it.

Ubiribo’s case does not mean that every penile filler procedure causes pulmonary embolism, but it indicates that cosmetic procedures are not risk-free simply because they are elective.

The American Urological Association and Urology Care Foundation have previously stated that subcutaneous fat injection for increasing penile girth has not been shown to be safe or effective.

Ubiribo’s death has now renewed attention on the risks associated with cosmetic penile augmentation, particularly when procedures are undertaken abroad.

An international clinical trial in the UK is examining whether Alzheimer’s disease can be delayed or prevented before symptoms like memory loss and confusion begin. The trial marks a significant shift from treating existing symptoms to intervening much earlier to delay or prevent the disease.

The Phase III PrevenTRON trial, led in the UK by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will study the experimental drug trontinemab in around 1,600 adults aged 55 to 80 who have no symptoms of Alzheimer’s but are at high risk of developing the disease in the future.

Who Is Eligible To Take Part In The Alzheimer’s Prevention Trial?

To be eligible to participate, the participant must have no memory problems. Researchers will use blood testing to look for p-tau217, a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain and increased future risk of cognitive decline.

The trial is recruiting internationally. At least 15 UK hospitals are expected to participate. Surrey and Borders Partnership is the first site in the UK and Europe to open the study.

Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either trontinemab or a placebo. Researchers will then follow them for around four to six years to determine whether treating the disease before symptoms appear can delay or prevent dementia.

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How Does Trontinemab Work?

Trontinemab, developed by pharmaceutical company Roche, targets amyloid plaques, abnormal deposits of the protein that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

The drug, with an antibody-based approach, intends to cross the blood-brain barrier more efficiently and remove amyloid from the brain.

Early studies have shown encouraging results. According to reports on the new trial, trontinemab cleared amyloid plaques in about 90% of people with early Alzheimer’s within 28 weeks.

However, these results came from people who already had early onset of the disease, not people being treated before symptoms, so they cannot prove that the drug will prevent Alzheimer’s.

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Can Alzheimer’s Be Treated Before Symptoms Appear?

Changes in the brain due to Alzheimer’s can begin in the brain years before memory problems develop. By the time symptoms become obvious, substantial biological changes may already have occurred.

Professor Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for PrevenTRON, said the trial is asking a fundamentally different question from many previous Alzheimer’s studies. With this trial, researchers intend to intervene before symptoms begin.

“PrevenTRON addresses a different question, whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin,” he said.

Trontinemab remains an experimental drug, and researchers do not yet know whether removing amyloid in people who have no symptoms will actually prevent or delay dementia.

The study will also help establish whether identifying people at increased risk using blood biomarkers and treating them years before symptoms is practical and safe. If successful, this could eventually change how Alzheimer’s disease is managed, as healthcare professionals can move from risk detection and prevention rather than waiting for symptoms.