*Improved sanitation facilities are defined by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme as those that ensure hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact, and are not shared between households. They include: toilets and latrines that flush or pour-flush to a piped sewer system, septic tank, or pit latrine; ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines; pit latrines with slabs; and composting toilets.

**“Relieving themselves in the open” refers to open defecation—relieving oneself in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water, or other open spaces; or disposal of human feces with solid waste.

***“Child sanitation-related deaths” refers to deaths from diarrhea among children less than 5.
Source: “Global Illness and Deaths Caused by Rotavirus Disease in Children,” by U.D. Parashar et al. in Emerging Infectious Diseases, May 2003
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol9no5/02-0562_appB.htm

Source for sanitation statistics:
“Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation” (Geneva: World Health Organization; New York: UNICEF; 2008)
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/jmp_report_7_10_lores.pdf