OPEN DEFECATION, a public health risk, social problem-UNICEF
By Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The United Nations Children"s Fund (UNICEF) said open defecation is a big public health risk and constitute threat to social life including quality of life.
UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Manager in Nigeria, Mamita Bora Thakkar disclosed this in Maiduguri on Monday at a media parley to sensitize members of the public ahead of the November 19 World Toilet Day 2024.
"Open defecation does not only harm physical health, it decimates productivity, impede school attendance and affect overall quality of life," Thakkar said.
She said the 2021 WASH NORM report showed nearly half of the population of people in northeast Borno do not have access to basic toilet facility. This according to her, leaves "nearly everyone in the state is at risk of unsafely disposed excreta, cholera and other water-borne diseases."
...nearly everyone in the state is at risk of unsafely disposed excreta, cholera and other water-borne diseases.
She said only 53 per cent of people in the state use a basic latrine bsse on the report. This lead to sanitation and hygiene gap affecting communal life, schools, public institutions, markets and health facilities.
The WASH manager called for more action aimed at promoting the wellbeing of children and women. She also stressed the need to build resilience of communities in northeast Nigeria.
"This year’s World Toilet Day is a reminder that Sanitation is still an unfinished agenda. Progress towards universal sanitation is alarmingly off track," she disclosed.
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