Availability of Toilet at the Household Level in India: Evidence from National Family Health Survey

Introduction: Poor sanitation has an impact on all facets of human life, including health development, economy, dignity of a human being, nutrition and empowerment of individuals. Globally, one in ten people use open defecation and India has 564 million people who defecate in the open. The government of India is trying to eradicate open defecation by constructing individual household toilets through different sanitation programmes.Methodology: This study analyses the sanitation conditions in India from 1992–93 to 2019–21. This study used five different rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in following years: NFHS-1 (1992–1993), NFHS-2 (1998–99), NFHS-3 (2005–06), NFHS-4 (2015–16), and NFHS-5 (2019–21).Results: This study found that 69.3% of households had improved toilets, 8.4% had shared toilets, 2.9% had unimproved toilets and 19.4% did not have any toilet facility in 2019–21. This revealed that the individual household toilet facilities increased as a result of different sanitation programmes implemented by the government of India.Conclusion: The last two decades highlight significant progress in improving access to adequate sanitation, driven by various government initiatives and policies. The data also reveals a shift towards more modern sanitation systems, such as flush toilets connected to piped sewer systems or septic tanks, indicating urbanisation and infrastructural development. This transition is crucial for public health, as it reduces the risk of waterborne diseases and improves overall well-being. How to cite this article:Nirmalkumar K, Sivasankar V. Availability of Toilets at the Household Level in India: Evidence from National Family Health Survey. Chettinad Health City Med J. 2024;13(3):30-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202441