Public toilet shortage across UK has forced several people to not leave their home, putting the country’s health as well as mobility under threat, warns a new report.
Over 700 facilities, run by council, have shut down since the year 2010, as per the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH).
A survey has unmasked that 3 of 4 adults believe there aren’t enough of public toilets in their region while 1 of 5 believe that a shortage of facilities prevents them from going out of their home as frequently as they’d like to.
Coming to people with medical conditions that can need frequent visit to public toilet, like bowel conditions and diabetes, more than 2 in 5 said there was a lack of toilets.
The RSPH is now urging the government to take an action to address such neglect exhibited towards facilities across the nation. Shirley Cramer, chief executive of RSPH said that public toilets aren’t luxury and therefore, it’s high time that people consider them as the community’s essential and basic part, much like street lights and pavements.
It is extremely concerning that with the ongoing national obesity crisis, a time when there is a need to encourage outdoor exercise, the lack of public toilet is encouraging people to remain indoors.