Of lavatories and public health

According to the latest public lavatory hygienic standard recommendations, there should be no more than one fly per square meter in public restrooms. This has sparked a debate online, says an article on gmw.cn. Excerpts:

Some people say the new standard lays too much emphasis on details like controlling the number of flies, which will remain a regulation on paper despite the good intentions because of the difficulty in enforcing it.

But besides restricting the number of flies per square meter, the new public lavatory hygienic standard has many strong points compared to the version of 1998. The first is that in areas where the numbers of men and women are relatively the same, the proportion of male and female toilets should be 1 to 2. This is logical, considering the needs of women.

Moreover, rural and tourist areas are also included in the new standard in contrast to the focus on urban areas in the 1998 standard. This should be considered a breakthrough.

Furthermore, according to sanitation standards in rural areas, the new recommendations lay special emphasis on facilities such as septic tanks and methane separation tanks.

It is said that the level of a nation's civilization can be gauged from how clean its lavatories are. The new standard published by the Ministry of Public Health certainly reflects the progress China has made in elevating its social and civil facilities.

But to make its efforts more effective, the government should draw up rules that are scientific and reasonable. And since everyone should be able to follow the regulations, it is extremely important to solicit more public opinions before drawing up the rules.

(China Daily 02/28/2013 page9)