Seoul Hosts First Toilet Conference

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 23, 2007 — -- Technology can go too far. Like the futuristic toilet currently on display in Seoul, South Korea, that is programmed to announce your weight and the levels of sugar and bacteria in your body whenever you use it.

This commode fit for a king is a centerpiece for the World Toilet Association's first meeting with its ambitious motto, "Toilet Revolution, Changing the World."

Easy jokes aside, the conference, which opened Wednesday, is a fanciful approach to a serious problem. An estimated 1.8 million people die every year because of diseases related to poor sanitation and 90 percent of them are children younger than 5, according to Dr. Shigeru Oni, World Health Organization regional director for the Western Pacific.

"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could be saved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation and hygiene," Oni told the meeting.

The conference is expected to draw 1,300 delegations from 60 countries intent on improving their nation's health through hygiene and is the brainchild of South Korean lawmaker Sim Jae-Duck. Sim, who has been nicknamed "Mr. Toilet" for his decadelong campaign to improve the lowly appliance, was unanimously elected the WTA's first president today.

"A human's healthy life is God's blessing," said Sim, "and we're going straight into helping people in Africa and Southeast Asia who suffer from diseases partly due to lack of toilets."

"It's an ongoing process of education, whether it's for small children or old people to talk about sanitation, practical hints and things they could do to better their own life," Sake Van Der Wal from the South African Embassy in Seoul told ABC News.

Partly in response to Sim's efforts, the South Korean government improved public facilities in advance of hosting the 1988 Olympics and then the 2002 World Cup.

"The toilet problem, along with traffic congestion, was the greatest inconvenience facing Koreans as well as foreigners visiting the country until recently," said Park Myung-jae, South Korea's minister of government administration and home affairs.

Creatively designed public restrooms such as spaceship- or piano-shaped buildings have been honored with "The Most Beautiful Toilet" awards and have become a fun destination for tourists.

The WTA expo included the "Hansel and Gretel Toilet," a toilet made of cookies and water basins made of candies. Schoolchildren, reluctant at first, reached into the toilet bowl for free gifts.