By themediahives 
By Parth Sanjay Sharma
(Student of Communication & Journalism, Gujarat University)
As a student of the Department of Communication & Journalism at Gujarat University, my journey in media has been driven by a strong interest in writing, understanding people, and giving voice to social realities that often remain unnoticed. Journalism, for me, is not just about reporting facts; it is about connecting data with lived experiences and questioning whether development truly reaches people’s everyday lives.
This perspective became sharper during my research on sanitation and hygiene and my field internship with Janpath NGO in Danta, Gujarat. What I observed was not simply a lack of infrastructure, but a deeper and more persistent problem—lack of awareness. Despite government schemes, toilets, and campaigns, basic hygiene practices remained weak, directly affecting health, dignity, and quality of life. This article brings together research, policy context, and field observations to underline a critical truth: sanitation and hygiene cannot succeed through construction alone—awareness is the missing link.
WASH: The Basics That Save Lives
Sanitation and hygiene are addressed globally under the framework of WASH—Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Sanitation refers to the safe management of human waste and wastewater, while hygiene includes everyday practices such as handwashing with soap, menstrual hygiene management, safe water storage, and personal cleanliness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hygiene includes all conditions and practices that help maintain health and prevent infections. (photo 1)
These practices may seem basic, but their absence leads to serious public health consequences, especially among children, women, and marginalized communities.
Global Progress, Local Gaps
Globally, progress in sanitation and hygiene has been steady but insufficient. As of 2024, about 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, 3.4 billion people lack safely managed sanitation, and 1.7 billion people do not have basic hygiene facilities at home. While safely managed sanitation coverage increased from 48% in 2015 to 58% in 2024, the pace is far too slow to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Children remain especially vulnerable. In 2023, nearly 646 million children worldwide attended schools without basic hygiene facilities, exposing them to infections and affecting attendance and learning outcomes. Rural areas across low-income regions continue to lag far behind urban centers.
Health Impacts: Preventable Yet Persistent
Unsafe sanitation and poor hygiene are among the leading causes of preventable disease worldwide. Inadequate WASH conditions contribute to 60% of diarrheal diseases and 13% of respiratory infections, while also playing a role in malnutrition, stunting, and diseases such as schistosomiasis, malaria, helminth infections, and trachoma.
Diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water and sanitation kill children under five at rates 20 times higher than deaths caused by conflict-related violence. Even healthcare facilities are affected—half of the world’s healthcare centers lack basic hygiene services, putting nearly 3.85 billion people at risk of infection.( photo 2)
Simple practices can dramatically reduce this burden. Handwashing with soap can lower diarrheal diseases by 31% and respiratory infections by 21%, yet awareness and consistent practice remain limited.
India’s Sanitation Drive: Infrastructure vs. Behavior
India’s sanitation transformation under the Swachh Bharat Mission has led to the construction of millions of toilets and near-universal rural sanitation coverage on paper. However, studies across the country show that toilet construction does not automatically ensure toilet usage.
Open defecation continues in several areas due to cultural habits, lack of reliable water supply, misconceptions about hygiene benefits, poor fecal sludge management, and weak behavior-change communication. Urban slums face similar challenges, where overcrowding and poverty restrict hygiene awareness. Women and children bear the greatest burden, facing health risks, safety concerns, and loss of dignity.
Gujarat: Achievements and Contradictions
Gujarat stands among the better-performing states in sanitation infrastructure. Under Swachh Bharat Mission, the state has constructed over 68.7 lakh rural household toilets and declared more than 13,000 villages ODF+. Improved water coverage is reported at around 95%, supported by incentives such as ₹12,000 per household toilet and strong Gram Panchayat involvement.
Campaigns like Swachhata Hi Seva and programs such as Poshan Udaan, which integrates hygiene education at Anganwadi levels, have strengthened awareness efforts. Waste segregation, door-to-door collection, and community participation under Swachh Bharat Phase-II further support sanitation goals.
Yet challenges remain. Rural piped water connections are uneven, groundwater contamination persists in parts of North Gujarat and Saurashtra, and literacy gaps—particularly among women—continue to affect hygiene practices. Infrastructure progress has not always translated into consistent behavioral change.
Ground Reality: Lessons from Danta
My internship with Janpath NGO in Danta revealed how awareness gaps undermine sanitation efforts at the grassroots level. Despite the presence of basic facilities, hygiene practices were weak.
Women in the village often used cloth during menstruation due to lack of awareness, access, and social stigma. There was little to no awareness among men regarding condom use, affecting reproductive health and family planning. Children did not bathe daily, leading to poor personal hygiene, and water supply was irregular, making consistent hygiene practices difficult even for willing households.
These observations highlighted a crucial insight: sanitation is not merely about building toilets—it is about education, gender sensitivity, water availability, and sustained awareness.
Why Awareness Remains the Missing Link
Low sanitation and hygiene awareness in India is rooted in deep cultural norms, low literacy levels, limited health education, poverty, and insufficient community engagement. Studies from rural Andhra Pradesh have shown that over 60% of households continued open defecation even after receiving toilets, primarily due to lack of understanding about health benefits. Similar patterns exist in urban slums, where awareness campaigns often fail to reach the most vulnerable.
My research and field experience reinforced one clear lesson: without awareness, infrastructure alone cannot bring change.
From Construction to Consciousness
To close the sanitation gap, India must shift focus from construction to consciousness. Strengthening information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns, integrating sanitation with reliable water supply, promoting women-led and community-led models, normalizing menstrual hygiene and male responsibility, and monitoring actual usage rather than construction figures are essential steps.
Successful behavior-change models, such as those seen in Indore, show that sustained awareness and community ownership can transform sanitation outcomes.
Conclusion: Cleanliness Begins with Awareness
As a student of communication and journalism, my responsibility does not end with reporting data. It extends to questioning realities and ensuring that awareness reaches where infrastructure already exists. Sanitation and hygiene are not merely policy goals—they are everyday human concerns tied to health, dignity, and equality.
My research and field exposure have shown that awareness is the foundation of sustainable change. When people understand the importance of hygiene, societies transform naturally. Until then, toilets remain unused, water remains unsafe, and health remains at risk.
True cleanliness begins not with construction, but with consciousness—and nurturing that consciousness is a responsibility shared by media, institutions, and society as a whole.