KATHMANDU, Nov.19 (Xinhua) -- Around 10,500 children below five years of age are dying annually of diseases caused by inadequate access to sanitation, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

    To celebrate the "World Toilet Day" on Nov. 19, the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal Public Health Association and several organizations working in the field of water and sanitation have appealed to all with various awareness programs related to proper use and increase the access to toilet.

    "Fifty-one percent Nepalese defecate openly," local newspaper The Rising Nepal cited the National Planning Commission as saying, adding that only 41 percent government schools have toilet.

    Open defecation practice pollutes the sources of water. Various studies have proved that 88 percent diarrhoeal diseases are caused by contaminated water, The Rising Nepal reported.