Bill Gates has launched a new initiative to reinvent the toilet which aimed at improving the health of the billions of people who have no safe, sanitary way to get rid of their waste.

"No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet," said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's global development program.

"But it did not go far enough. It only reached one-third of the world. What we need are new approaches."He added.

Forty percent of the world's population lacks access to flush toilets, and more than a billion people defecate into the open. That's not only revolting but also tragic. UNICEF estimates that at least 1.2 million children under age five die of diarrhea each year, and contact with human feces is the main cause.

Access to toilets could go a long way to preventing these deaths.

To jump-start the effort, the foundation is ponying up $42 million in grants aimed at improving the "capture and storage of waste." It will also work with local communities to end open defecation and boost access to "sanitation solutions."

The foundation is working to develop waterless toilets that do not rely on sewer connections - and which might turn human waste into fertilizer, fuel, or even safe drinking water.

据美国哥伦比亚广播公司19日报道，比尔•盖茨最近启动了一项新计划：重新改造厕所。这项计划的目标是改进全球数以亿计人口的健康状况，帮助他们采用安全、卫生的方法冲掉排泄物。

比尔和梅琳达•盖茨基金会全球发展计划主席西维亚•马修•波维尔说：“在过去200年里，在挽救生命与改善健康状况方面，没有任何一项创新可以与此次由盖厕所而引发的卫生革命所产生的意义相提并论。”

“但是这还不够，现在全球只有1/3的人受利，我们需要启动一些新方案。” 波维尔补充说。

全世界有40%的人没有安装抽水马桶，有超过十亿的人口在敞地上排便。这不仅让人感到恶心，而且悲痛，因为按照联合国儿童基金会的估计，每年至少有120万五岁以下的儿童死于腹泻，而人类排泄物又是致使这种死亡的主因。

使用厕所则会对避免这类型死亡起到很大作用。

为启动这项计划，该基金会正在投入4200万美元的资助金用来改进排泄物的收集和储存。同时，基金会也会与当地社区共同努力来结束当地群众敞地排便的历史，为他们提供卫生服务。

盖茨基金会正在致力于研发无水马桶，安装这种马桶不需要下水管道，而且还将有望把人类排泄物转化成肥料、燃料、甚至是可用清水。

Bill Gates calls for reinvention of toilet