United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that no fewer than 49 million Nigerians still defecate in the open.
This was revealed at the ongoing two-day national stakeholders’ workshop on “Roadmap for Ending Open Defecation’’ in Abuja, yesterday, by the UNICEF Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) specialist, Mr. Bisi Agberemi.
Agberemi said that the federal government must accelerate efforts to eliminate open defecation in the country, saying that this is necessary as open defecation was still the leading cause of preventable child deaths.
He added that only 64 per cent of the world’s population had access to improved sanitation, stressing that it was sad to note that Nigeria was still among the top 10 countries practising open defecation.
Agberemi quoted the 2013 National Demographic Health Survey which shows that only 28.7 Nigerians had access to basic sanitation facilities.
This, he said, needed to be scaled-up through continued sustainability of practices, such as hand washing, to achieve an open defecation-free Nigeria.
He, however, called for the review of obsolete public health laws and implementation of policies to meet the year 2025 target.
The specialist also called for increased funding of sanitation issues, saying, “we must all work together to advocate for the harmonisation of sanitation policies and cultivate the attitude of cleanliness at all times.”
The WaterAid’s Country Representative, Dr Micheal Ojo said cycle of illnesses still persisted in communities lacking sanitation facilities. adding that access to safe water and secured toilets are necessary for all as defecating in the open is like infecting ourselves.
“In communities where there is open defecation, there are diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera and gastroenteritis, killing children under five years. Open defecation was still causing Nigeria to lose millions of naira annually, saying the issue needed to be dealt with to secure the nations’ future,” he pointed.
Ojo stressed the need to have a national road map which would also involve state governments to address the issue before 2025.
The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe reiterated Federal Government’s efforts toward eliminating open defecation.
She said that government was implementing the Community Led Total Sanitation project to make Nigeria open defecation-free and the approach was targeted at changing the attitude of people in the communities on hygiene and sanitation practices, saying it is recording positive results.
Original link