Toilets are one important element of a sustainable sanitation system. Diseases, including cholera, which still affects some 3 million people each year, can be largely prevented when effective sanitation and water treatment prevents fecal matter from contaminating waterways, ground water and drinking water supplies. Infected water supplies can be treated to make the water safe for consumption and use. Many people in developing countries have no toilet in their homes and are resorting to open defecation instead. The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation by WHO and UNICEF is the official United Nations mechanism tasked with monitoring progress towards the Millennium Development Goal relating to drinking water and Sanitation, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.