India’s maternal, infant, and child mortality rate and malnutrition crisis go beyond food scarcity to larger issues of poor sanitation. One decade ago, 52 million people in India were defecating in the outdoors. Open defecation is known to cause malnutrition by unsafe water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene. Studies in India found high rates of child stunting, infant and child mortality, maternal deaths, lacking menstrual health and hygiene, school dropout, gender inequality, and beyond. In this time, India was losing billions of dollars a year, primarily through premature deaths of young children due to lack of toilets and improper sanitation. 

In 2014, the Indian government took up the “Swachh Bharat Mission” (Clean India Movement) to build household and community toilets, improve solid waste management, achieve behavioral change towards sanitation and hygiene management, and improve both health and economic outcomes. In a decade, India has seen incredible declines in infant, child, and maternal deaths, as well as massive cost savings, reduced school dropouts, and improved menstrual health and hygiene.  Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) has also boosted gender equality, and economic benefits and innovations. Much can be learned from the successes of SBM. 

Please join the Wilson Center’s Maternal health Initiative, in collaboration with Banyan Tree Global, for a panel discussion on the successes of SBM and the lessons learned that can be applied to other countries facing similar challenges related to sanitation and hygiene.