World Toilet Day: How can You Help Improve Sanitation for 2.5 Million People?

It might not be too fun to talk about, but toilets are an essential part of our everyday life. With a single flush, our daily waste can go down the drain in the convenience of our own home.

However, for some people, the lack of toilets and collapse of water systems make it impossible for them to enjoy a luxury Americans may typically take for granted.

Fortunately, World Toilet Day on November 19 aims to improve sanitation for 2.5 billion people that currently lack the necessary .

UNICEF and other organizations are working to deliver portable toilets and hygiene supplies to Tacloban for $34 million to help four million children who were affected by the Typhoon. The news organization notes that this is an estimated amount of supplies for six months of assistance.

The lack of sanitation for the area is due, in part, to the incredibly high percentage of the world's population located in the Tacloban region.

With this area and others in need, the United Nations General Assembly kicked off this year with World Toilet Day.

"We must break the taboos and make sanitation for all a global development priority," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in an official statement in Singapore last July, according to CNN.

Each year, statistics from the United Nations show that more than 800,000 children under 5 die from diarrhea--many of which is caused by poor sanitation.

"Sanitation is central to human and environmental health. It is essential or sustainable development, dignity and opportunity," Ban added, via Time. "When schools offer decent toilets, 11 percent more girls attend. When women have access to a private latrine, they are less vulnerable to assault."

Ban suggests that by working together through a discussion regarding toilets and sanitation as a way to improve health and well-being, one-third of human families on the planet will live healthier and longer lives.