Apparently high levels of
Open defecation (aka taking a ***** outside) are linked to high child mortality, poor nutrition, poverty and large disparities between the rich and the poor.
Shocking to see on the chart available on the wiki page linked above that in some countries the majority of the people defecate in the open (68% of the people in Chad and Niger or 76% of Eritreans just to name a few).
In India the open defecation issue was so pressing that the government launched a campaign in 2014 called
Swachh Bharat Mission ('Clean India Mission') aimed to achieve an 'open defecation free' (ODF) India by 2019, the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Objectives of the first phase also included eradication of
manual scavenging (a term used in India for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling, human excrement), generating awareness and bringing about a behaviour change regarding sanitation practices.
I found all these articles and went down this rabbit hole after my friend told me about his experience doing number 2 in a public toilet in China. Just thought I'd clarify before people started wondering what it takes for someone to find the wiki article about open defecation...