The D.C. Council is considering a bill that would allow construction of public bathrooms throughout the city. With this bill, D.C. could lead the way in preventing unsanitary practices that spread diseases like hepatitis A.
We usually have to urinate four to six times per day if we’re hydrated. Once we have to urinate, we must either use a bathroom or deposit the urine in a pad or diaper.
Defecation also becomes a problem if we do not have access to a bathroom or sanitary products to wipe the fecal matter from our bodies. We need to wash our hands to avoid carrying our fecal matter to doors and other surfaces as we move through our day.
The high rates of hepatitis A in some parts of the United States could lead to an epidemic, but D.C. could help curtail the virus’s spread. Let’s not become San Diego, which reported 580 cases between 2016 and March 2018. The outbreak cost $9.5 million and 20 lives, according to the Huffington Post.
Let’s lead the way by constructing public bathrooms throughout the nation’s capital and educating people about the importance of washing hands after using a bathroom.
