A new United Nations study has found that more people around the world have access to a cell-phone than to a toilet.

The study’s numbers claim that of the world’s estimated 7 billion people， 6 billion have access to mobile phones. However， only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet.

At a press conference announcing the report， U.N. Deputy Secretary—General Jan Eliasson announced the organization is launching an effort to halve the number of those without access by the end of 2015.

“Let’s face it. This is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health， a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people，” Eliasson said at the press conference.

Interestingly， the report states that India alone is responsible for 60 percent of the world’s population that does not use a toilet， an estimated 626 million individuals. Yet， at the same time， there are an estimated 1 billion cell phones in India.

Conversely， in the world’s most highly populated country， China， only 14 million people do not have access to a toilet. However， there are also fewer cell phones in China， 986 million， according to the Daily Mail.

Driving the point home， more than 750，000 people die each year from diarrhea and one of its primary causes is from unsanitary conditions created in communities without access to toilets.

“This can also improve the safety of women and girls， who are often targeted when they are alone outdoors，” said Martin Mogwanja， deputy executive director of the U.N. Children’s Fund. “And providing safe and private toilets may also help girls to stay in school， which we know can increase their future earnings and help break the cycle of poverty.”

聯(lián)合國(guó)最新的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查研究顯示，全球范圍內(nèi)擁有手機(jī)的人要比擁有廁所的人多。

根據(jù)該研究的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，目前在全球約70億人中，有60億人有條件使用手機(jī)，而只有大約45億人有條件使用廁所。

聯(lián)合國(guó)副秘書長(zhǎng)揚(yáng)·埃利亞松在一次新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上宣布了這項(xiàng)報(bào)告，他表示聯(lián)合國(guó)正在發(fā)起一項(xiàng)活動(dòng)，計(jì)劃到2015年年底，將沒有條件使用廁所的人數(shù)減少一半。

埃利亞松在發(fā)布會(huì)上表示：“我們需要面對(duì)這個(gè)事實(shí)，如廁問題可能是人們不太愿意談?wù)摰膯栴}，但這卻是保證人們身體健康、保護(hù)環(huán)境和十幾億人基本的人類尊嚴(yán)的核心問題。”

有趣的是，該報(bào)告顯示，印度占到了全球無法使用廁所人數(shù)的60%，估計(jì)約有6.26億人；而與此同時(shí)，印度國(guó)內(nèi)使用的手機(jī)數(shù)量估計(jì)達(dá)10億部。

中國(guó)的情況與之相反。雖然中國(guó)是世界上人口最稠密的國(guó)家，但根據(jù)英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》的數(shù)據(jù)，在中國(guó)只有1400萬(wàn)人沒條件使用廁所。中國(guó)擁有的手機(jī)數(shù)量約為9.86億部，少于印度的數(shù)量。

還有更多的數(shù)據(jù)說明這個(gè)問題。全球每年有超過75萬(wàn)人死于痢疾，其中大多是因?yàn)闆]有條件使用廁所，衛(wèi)生條件無法保證。

聯(lián)合國(guó)兒童基金會(huì)的副總干事馬丁·莫格萬(wàn)加表示：“廁所還能增強(qiáng)婦女兒童的安全，獨(dú)自在戶外活動(dòng)的婦女兒童通常會(huì)是遭遇襲擊的對(duì)象。提供安全、私人的廁所也可以幫助女孩子們待在學(xué)校接受更好的教育，這樣能夠增加她們未來的收入，幫助打破貧窮的惡性循環(huán)。”