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Tag: open-defecation

  • Open defecation: A new campaign to the rescue

    With Nigeria ranking second among countries with the worst open defecation practices, the Federal Government has launched a new campaign to bring about behaviour change and sensitise the public on the health and environmental implications of emptying their bowels in the open, reports Frank Ikpefan.

    Worried by the increasing rate of open defecation in the country, the Federal Government has launched the Clean Nigeria campaign. The campaign, stakeholders at the launch believe, will begin the process of enlightening the public towards eradicating open defecation in the country. Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outside or in the open environment, rather than in a toilet.

    In Nigeria, many people resort to emptying their bowels in fields, bushes, highway sides, uncompleted/abandoned buildings, open markets, dump sites, drains, open markets, rivers, forests, ditches, streets, canals and other open space. Studies have shown that people defecate in the open because either they do not have access to toilet or due to traditional cultural practices. Other reasons that encourage open defecation include poor quality of toilet, risky and unsafe toilet, presence of toilet, but no privacy, lack of water close to the toilet and too many people using a toilet. Simply put, open defecation is common where good sanitation infrastructure and services are not available.

    However, even where good and safe toilets are available, behaviour change efforts may still be needed to promote the use of toilets, experts said. Available records showed that about 892 million people, or 12 percent of the global population still defecate in the open.  Sadly, as huge as seventy-six per cent or 678 million of the 892 million people practising open defecation in the world live in just seven countries, Nigeria inclusive. According to experts, open defecation can pollute the environment and cause health problems, with high levels of open defecation being linked to high child mortality, poor nutrition, ignorance, and poverty.

    Nigeria, according to official figures quoted by Water Resources Minister, Suleiman Adamu, currently has 47million people defecating in the open – no thanks to the country’s poor toilet infrastructure, especially in urban centres where the problem is more pronounced. The country’s ranking among countries still practising open defecation has moved from fifth position in the last few years to second. This means that Nigeria currently ranks number two among nations with the worst open defecation practices, with all the attendant health and environmental implications and hazards involved.

    Going by the report of the Joint Monitoring Progress 2017, Nigeria is expected to replace India by October this year as number one country with the highest number of persons practising open defecation. Ironically, India is projected to become open defecation-free also by October this year. Experts are worried because the projection is seen as a reflection of Nigeria’s poor sanitation conditions and lack of concerted efforts to address the problems. With 47million people defecating in the open, it means approximately one in four persons will have nowhere to toilet; while the national access to basic sanitation stands at a low level of 33 per cent.

    Also, data from the recently conducted water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) National Outcome Routine Monitoring (WASHNORM) in 2018 showed a marginal reduction in access to improved water supply to 67.9 per cent with only 3.7 per cent meeting safely managed criteria for sanitation. Therefore, it was no surprise that the government launched the campaign. Hygiene experts say open defecation perpetuates the vicious cycle of disease and poverty, besides being an affront to personal dignity. Countries where open defecation is most widely practised have the highest numbers of deaths of children under the age of five, as well as high levels of under-nutrition, high levels of poverty, and large disparities between the rich and poor.

    The country’s poor sanitation and hygiene practices, unknown to many, have claimed more lives than the deadly Boko Haram terrorists. Records have shown that the number of children lost to poor sanitation in the country annually is alarming, as many primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria lack safe and hygienic toilet facilities.

    According to WaterAid, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), around 60,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die from diseases caused by the nation’s poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Experts have also warned that unless stringent measures are adopted to check open defecation in the country, Nigerians’ health will continue to be jeopardised. Besides the number of deaths recorded annually from poor sanitation, about $3.38 billion are also lost annually in the country  to poor sanitation conditions. This figure, as far WaterAid is concerned, constitutes 0.9 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic products (GDP).

    As far as Adamu is concerned, the Clean Nigeria campaign will help eradicate open defecation in the country by 2025. But in order to monitor or track the progress, the government has also launched a website in Abuja. The site, Adamu stressed, will serve as a link to the public and monitor the progress made to end open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

    “The ministry has put in place the Clean Nigeria programme to end open defection by 2025 with the slogan: ‘Clean Nigeria, use the toilet.’ The cleannigeria.ng is the official website for the national campaign to end open defecation. It is one aspect of the campaign to visualise information for advocacy and communication. We want Nigerians and the world to follow the progress being made to end open defecation in the country. We want users to be inspired to take action and contribute their quota to the progress being made to end open defecation in Nigeria,” Adamu said.

    While reiterating that the country is committed to ending open defecation by 2025, the Minister said this was what made President Buhari to launch the National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Action Plan and declared a state of emergency in the sector in 2018. Recently, during a one-day inter-ministerial dialogue on sanitation in Abuja aimed at gathering momentum and collaborative plans towards ending open defecation in the country, Adamu recommended an executive order from President Muhammadu Buhari, stressing that this will mandate Nigerians to put the right facilities in place to end open defecation. “India, as the number one or largest country practising open defecation is on course to becoming open defecation-free by October this year. This will leave Nigeria as the number one open defecation prevalent country. Within the last four years, India has been able to provide toilets for 400 million persons, and is on track to meet the target of delivering toilets to an additional 150 million persons before October 2019.

    “The India campaign to eliminate open defecation, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), demonstrates that it is possible to change attitudes and facilitate access to sanitation facilities and hygienic practices. We are proposing an executive order to the president that will mandate all ministries to address all issues of sanitation and so this is a national issue. Our main focus is behaviour change; we want people to know the need to have and use toilets for themselves,” he said.

    Speaking in an interview, Water Aid’s  Communication Officer, Blessing Sani, said the campaign to end open defecation in the country was long overdue. She applauded the launch of open defecation free (ODF) website, saying it is timely because it is important for Nigerians to know the dangers of open deflation and their responsibilities as well as those of stakeholders in tackling it. The communication expert warned that Nigeria should not be allowed to replace India as number one country with the highest number of persons practising open defecation in the world.

    “We believe this information portal will enrich many with relevant information, provide real time data on the campaign progress and encourage people to do more to make the ‘Clean Nigeria’ campaign a success.

    It is critical that every Nigerian be aware of the dangers of open defecation and their responsibility, alongside other stakeholders, in tackling the sanitation problem.

    “It is appalling that Nigeria ranks second after India among countries with the most people practicing open defecation. While India is on track to solving this crisis, Nigeria will become number one when that happens. We cannot attain such a status as a country. WaterAid has constantly supported the government in its effort to deliver sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services and we are committed to ending open defecation in Nigeria by 2025,” Sani said.

    Also, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) attributed Nigeria’s decline among countries practising open defecation to lack of political awareness of issues regarding inequalities in access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services. It also identified low prioritisation and poor commitment of policy makers as well insufficient and poorly-targeted funding as other challenges. Jennifer Ehidiamen, UNICEF national communications consultant (campaign to end open defecation), urged the government to adopt the community-led total sanitation (CLTS) to tackle the country’s open defecation problem.

    “The CLTS is an approach that empowers communities to see open defecation as a menace. It propels them to stop open defecation within the shortest time possible. Nothing significant can be achieved in isolation. Nigerians need to take ownership of this ‘Clean Nigeria: use the toilet’ campaign and not see it as a campaign by the government. The first step is awareness creation. Thousands of communities have attained the open defecation free status as a result of the community-led total sanitation and the toilet business owner (TBOs) efforts. These are all successful examples that need to be replicated, expanded and up-scaled,” she said in a statement.

    Unfortunately, most Nigerians are not aware of the severity of the problem. According to a poll conducted by UReport in March 2019, only 33 per cent of Nigerians are aware that Nigeria ranked second among countries with the highest number of persons practising open defecation. But the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, noted that issues of sanitation and hygiene cut across all parts of the country, saying poor access to safe water and sanitation facilities can affect national productivity.

    The former Lagos State governor added that there is the need to evolve sustainable ways to dispose all kinds of wastes, noting that promoting access to water supply and managing waste effectively are pillars for inclusive development. The minister said there is the need to awaken national consciousness through behaviour change to promote wellness, calling for support from sub-national levels to address the challenges.

    Although evidence-based advocacy is needed to create the necessary political awareness and incite commitment and leadership to ensure that ending open defecation is brought to the forefront of the government agenda, experts believe the target to eradicate open defecation cannot be achieved without requisite funding to put facilities in place, especially if state and local governments as well as communities are not mobilised to own the campaign.

  • Open defecation worsening Nigeria’s health challenges, Experts warn

    Experts in the health sector have warned that unless stringent measures are adopted to check open defecation, Nigeria’s health challenges will be aggravated.

    According to the experts, Nigeria comes second to India as the country with the highest prevalence of open defecation in the world.

    They warned that the situation is critical because Nigeria has, in only a couple of years, moved from the fifth position on the global table of countries with open defecation to the second position currently.

    This was one of the critical issues thrown up at a two-day training workshop on ‘Communication for Behaviour Change in Essential Family Practices’ for various media houses, programme managers, state and national information officers, organised by the Delta State Ministry of Information in collaboration with UNICEF.

    Specifically, it was revealed that Nigeria, with over 47 million people still practicing open defecation instead of using toilets, is today worse off than countries like Ethiopia and Indonesia, where over 27 million and 32 million people, respectively, defecate openly still, according to latest survey.

    Delta State Commissioner for Information, Chief Patrick Ukah, who declared the workshop open in Asaba, described the training as timely and critical especially in the light of the numerous challenges today in family healthcare practices and implementation of relevant government policies for the citizens.

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    Ukah assured that the Okowa administration was committed to good hygiene and sanitation practice in homes as well as public places in line with its healthcare policies, noting that media and information practitioners need training and refreshers courses to augment reading and research, so as to be able to inform members of the public accurately and promptly.

    According to UNICEF’s experts, Dr Hilary Ozoh and Martha Hokonya, media role in arousing both the citizens and government to issues of Water Sanitation Hygiene (WASH) cannot be overstressed considering the huge effects of open defecation on Nigerians and the attainment of United Nations’ deadline of open-defecation-free world in 2030.

    Nigerian governments at all levels should urgently address the issue even in public hospitals and other health facilities, markets and schools because the country’s health challenges could only worsen with air and water pollution in addition to flies, cockroaches and rodents freely transmitting various diseases among the people.

    UNICEF Health Specialist, Dr Abe Eghe, who gave an in-depth analysis of ”Essential Family Practices in Health and Key Messages”, underscored the importance of access to appropriate media information to safe motherhood and newborn vis-a-vis the promotion of child right, saying the government could save tens of billions of naira needed annually to tackle numerous health problems, by investing in WASH programmes and addressing the open defecation challenge.

    UNICEF’s Nutrition and safe motherhood specialist, Mrs Ngozi Onuora, who drilled participants on current nutritional status of Delta State as well as maternal and under-five mortality, malnutrition and school enrolment, noted that the media have a massive challenge to draw attention to issues in a holistic manner, including influencing advocacy and policies.

    The Executive Director, Delta State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Jude Winful-Orieke, the acting Permanent Secretary in the state information ministry, Mr Paul Osahor and the UNICEF Focal person in the information ministry who is also the Delta State Chairman of National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Mrs Pat Gbemudu, were among those who gave goodwill messages at the event.

    The highpoint of the training exercise was the fashioning of pidgin and standard English media reports and jingle format for radio and television programmes, by participants under the guidance of the UNICEF resource persons, on some critical areas including Nutrition, Immunization, Breast/Complementary Feeding, Open Defecation, Hygiene and Water Sanitation.

  • Pastor, eight others jailed for open defecation

    A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Aramoko Ekiti has sentenced a pastor and eight others to six- month imprisonment for failure to provide toilet facilities in their houses.

    The convicts were also jailed for other sanitation offences like practicing open defecation and refusing to provide waste bins within their vicinities.

    They were brought to court from communities like Aramoko, Erio, Ido Ile, all in Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state.

    Out of the 18 people arraigned before the Magistrate court by Local Government Environmental Health Officers, nine pleaded guilty to the offences and were convicted.

    The convicted are: Pastor Olaleye Isaac, Chief Ologun Ala, Mr. Titus Ibironke, Chief Jacob Taiwo, Mr. Sunday Adesoba, Mrs. Olu Obateru, Mr. Adetoyinbo, Mr. Agboola and Mr. Atoro.

    The presiding Magistrate, Mr. Abayomi Adeosun, sentenced the accused persons to six months imprisonment with options of fines ranging from N5,000 to N15,000.

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    While lamenting the environmental nuisance caused by open defecation, he held that the sentence would serve as a deterrence to others.

    The Magistrate also issued a bench warrant for the arrest of nine other persons who failed to appear in court for similar offences.

    He further directed the Police to present them for prosecution on April 25, 2019.

    Addressing journalists after the conviction, Chief Prosecutor, Ekiti West Local Government, Mr. Ebenezer Fashipe lamented that citizens valued their wealth more than their health.

    Fashipe assured that the local government will continue to prosecute households without toilets until open defecation is eradicated in the area.

  • FG launches campaign to end open defecation

    The Federal Government has launched the Clean Nigeria Campaign aimed at ending open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

    Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, launched the campaign and a website to track the progress of the campaign at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.

    He said the site will serve as a link to the public and to monitor the progress being made across the country on ending open defecation in Nigeria by 2025.

    According to him, the website for the ODF campaign will create awareness and sensitise the public on activities of the clean Nigeria Programme.

    “The ministry has put in place the clean Nigeria program to end open defection by 2025 with the slogan: ‘Clean Nigeria, use the toilet.’

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    “The cleannigeria.ng is the official website for the national campaign to end open defecation. It is one aspect of the campaign to visualise information for advocacy and communication.

    “We want Nigerians and the world to follow the progress being made to end open defecation in the country.

    “We want users to be inspired to take action and contribute their quota to the progress being made to end open defecation in Nigeria,” the minister said.

    The minister said the government was committed to ending open defecation in the country by 2025.

    He said this made President Muhammadu Buhari to launch the National Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Action Plan and declared a state of emergency in the sector in 2018.

  • FG urges states to enact laws to ban open defecation

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu on Sunday called on states to enact bye-laws to ban open defecation in the country.

    Adamu, who made the call at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, said the call became necessary following continuous practice of open defecation in parts of the country.

    He said that it was a matter for regret that Nigeria is the second largest country after India with over 66 million of its population defecating in the open.

    According to him, when this law becomes operational, it will check the practice, fine offenders and also encourage people to construct and use their toilets.

    He said that Nigeria had developed a Roadmap and Action Plan to reposition the water and sanitation sector, saying there was a pledge to end open defecation by 2025, before the end of the Sustainable Development Goals.

    “One of the key issues we are asking the states to do is to put up a legislation to ban open defecation, state governments must look at their building codes to enforce the need for people to build toilets, the appropriate kinds of toilets in their houses; there must be more public toilets, public buildings should be able to open up toilet facilities for people, this is what is happening all over the world.

    “We are lucky to have engaged the wife of the president on this because we need champions to help us campaign against open defecation and she has accepted to lead the campaigns along with wives of state governors.

    “I am sure very soon, you will begin to hear us making waves in all of our campaigns, our communication strategies has been in place, and they are trying to mobilise the country against open defecation.’’

    Adamu said that the campaign for ending open defecation could not be run under a ministerial department alone, calling for priority of attention to be given to it just like ending Polio and HIV and AIDS.

    He added that the ministry would encourage water and sanitation enterprises to encourage private sector investment in toilet business.
    He said that there was the need for all water supply component construction to have a sanitation component, adding that this would go a long way to promote hygiene and end open defecation.

    A projection of the Joint Monitoring Progress Report 2015 and MICS 2017 data revealed that Nigeria is unlikely to achieve the target of completely eradicating open defecation by 2025 and universal use of safe sanitation by 2030.

    According to a World Bank 2012 Report, about 122,000 Nigerians including 87,000 children under-five years die annually from diarrhea, nearly 90 per cent being directly attributed to water, sanitation and hygiene.(NAN)

  • Policy on open defecation, urination coming in Lagos

    As part of its World Toilet Day declaration, the Lagos State Government says it is finalising implementation plans on its Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) policy, envisaged to complement laws and curb the menace of open defecation and urination.

    Speaking at the year’s World Toilet Day in Ikeja, the Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti decribed  open defecation and urination as unwholesome with a lot of negative impact on the environment, public health, human dignity and personal safety, especially for women, children and those in vulnerable situations.

    He said the celebration with the theme: “When nature calls”, was aimed at “promoting the campaign against open defecation, a practice that is not only unhealthy but also anathema to the Lagos Megacity of our dream”.

    The Environment commissioner stated that no fewer than 892 million people around the world practised open defecation as they were unable to access basic sanitation facilities, particularly toilets and water.

    “This staggering statistics, no doubt, calls for urgent action among all stakeholders to prioritise toilet and sanitation issues, enhance access to water and sanitation facilities and as well spread awareness of the ills of undesirable sanitation practices,” he said.

    He said the celebration brought to the front burner issues, such as water, sanitation and hygiene, which required urgent actions to stem the tide of diseases and bring about healthy citizenry.

    “The world is changing faster than we can imagine with human population increasing at an exponential rate. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide access to safe and sustainable sanitation systems that will effectively address the menace of open urination and defecation as well as other sanitation infractions to prevent the widespread of diseases,” he said.

    According to him, proper handling of these critical issues would help reduce government expenditure on treatment of diseases and make more money available for other important public uses.

    He stated that the  government was making efforts to eradicate the menace of open defecation and urination through the provision of public toilets and upgrading of already facilities as well as the implementation of the Lagos State Water Sanitation and Hygiene Policy.

    He called on Lagosians to join the global crusade, spread the awareness, inspire environmentally-friendly actions and support in facilitating the provision of sustainable sanitation systems capable of promoting economic growth and well-being of the citizenry.

    The World Toilet Day is aimed at creating awareness to combat the global sanitation challenges facing humanity.

    The year’s edition was celebrated by the state government in conjunction with Reckit Benkiser.

  • FCTA warns against open defecation to prevent cholera

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has warned residents to desist from open defecation to prevent cholera in the territory.

    The Director, Public Health, Health and Human Services Secretariat, FCTA, Dr Humphrey Okoroukwu, gave the warning in a  statement on Friday in Abuja.

    Okoroukwu disclosed that seven deaths have so far been recorded from cholera outbreak in four communities of Sauka, Mpape, Kubwa village and Ushafa.

    He, however, explained that open defecation was one of the causes that predisposes some residents to cholera, which affected some communities in the territory.

    “People should stop defecating in open places, especially around the river banks to prevent infectious diseases like cholera.

    ”Residents are advised to have toilets in their homes and those who cannot afford Water Closet should endeavour to have pit latrines to avoid outbreak of cholera,” he said.

    The director said that cholera outbreak was common during the rainy season, and stressed the need for residents to take necessary precautions.

    He said that cholera outbreak occurred mainly in rural communities that had no access to potable water.

    Okoroukwu also enjoined FCT residents to treat their drinkable water and ensure that it was free of any contamination.

    He advised residents to take sick persons with symptoms of cholera immediately to nearby healthcare facility or hospital, pointing out that timeliness is of essence. (NAN)

  • Semiotics of open defecation

    It is one of those days you don’t know how best to broach a topic. It is particularly so in a something as tacky as defecation. One day Hardball shall interrogate this matter of excrement; this singular equalizer of all men, nay all animals. Pooing knows no tribe or race, gender or class … you would simply be in trouble if you didn’t do the doo-doo after three days. In fact you are already in trouble and must see your doctor pronto!

    Every man (and woman of course) does it yet we would rather not talk about it. We would rather not even mention it or speak its name aloud. As you can already see from the foregoing dear reader, even Hardball has a semantic challenge situating this phenom.

    It isn’t a word mentioned without a thought; it indeed has so many names and descriptions each suitable for occasions and circumstances – faeces, excrement, poo-poo, doo-doo and the most abused and debasing – shit. But this is not the day for the fecal disquisition promised above.

    Today, Hardball is burdened by a recent UNICEF report which indicates that 46 million Nigerians still practices open defecation.

    The report which is an overview of the UNICEF supported Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in Nigeria also disclosed that 15 million Nigerians still drink water from rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and irrigation canals while 57 million Nigerians do not have access to safe water supply.

    While these are grave enough, the picture of 46 million people in full squatting positions morning, noon and night putting away is quite exhilarating, if you have a bit of humour in you. Imagine the dung generated daily and anon! Would this by any chance account for Nigeria’s rich soil?

    Open defecation of course means the absence of hygienic modern toilet system which allows faeces to be channeled into septic tanks in which it is contained, treated and properly disposed. If so many of us still (prefer to?) do it in the open after over a century of modern toilet system, something surely is amiss.

    Could this be symptomatic of how truly we are? Is it an acute case of arrested development? A recent study indicates that the human bowels are better cleared when we sit in a full squat while defecating!

    Again, why are people in authority not alarmed at this most alarming news of 46 million paying putrid homage to our earth every day? You would think someone would be moved enough to set up a task force to drastically reduce this modern day infamy. But nobody seems to care; perhaps it’s our way!

  • FG to consider legislation against open defecation – Suleiman Adamu

    FG to consider legislation against open defecation – Suleiman Adamu

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mr Suleiman Adamu, says that the Federal Government is considering legislation against open defecation in the country.

    Adamu said this on Tuesday at an Inter-Ministerial Dialogue on Sanitation in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He said a large number of Nigerians still practice open defecation due to the failure of landlords to provide toilets in their buildings.

    According to him, such laws will go a long way to address those who indiscriminately defecate in the open, forgetting that faeceas are transferable to foods and water.

    “We are looking at having a legislation to punish those practicing open defecation, this is important because it will serve as deterent to others and also encourage everyone to build and use their toilets.”

    He called on all Nigerians to promote behavior change in hygiene promotion, saying those practicing open defecation may soon face sanctions.

    The minister noted that open defecation has been known to be the leading cause of preventable deaths in under five children.

    He said there was the need to move away from dependence on budgetary allocations for promoting hygiene, saying Nigerians ought to understand that promoting health and hygiene is a great way to reduce disease burden.

    The minister noted that the understanding of the crosscutting role of Water Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH ) sector and its impact on other sectors has made it imperative to foster a strong mechanism to address sanitation issues.

    Adamu reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to improve hygiene through the inauguration of the Partnership for Extended Water Sanitation and Hygiene in Nigeria to encourage stakeholders step up advocacy to promote improved livelihood.

    Dr Priscilla Achakpa, National Coordinator, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) said no fewer than 46 million Nigerians practice open defecation.

    He said that children of the poor were four times more likely to get diarrhoea as against those of the rich.

    According to him, there is the need for all stakeholders to see sanitation as everyone’s business.

    “It is a cross sectoral issue that affects the social economic, health, wellbeing of individuals.”

    Achakpa said there was the need to build capacity of women, girls and other stakeholders on menstrual hygiene management and promotion of separate toilets for boys and girls to enable girls increase school attendance.

    Mr Emmanuel Awe, Director, Water Quality Control and Sanitation with the ministry, said measures were on to harmonise the National Sanitation Policy towards overall hygiene promotion.

    Awe urged ministries to have separate budget line for promoting sanitation policies and programmes towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

    NAN

  • Don seeks end to open defecation

    An environmental health expert, Dr Oladapo Okareh, has called for aggressive sensitisation against open defecation, saying the practice could lead to outbreak of diseases like cholera and diarrhoea.
    Okareh, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS), University of Ibadan, made the call while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
    He said: “Open defecation is the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water or other open spaces rather than use the toilet to defecate or pass bodily waste.
    “Open defecation constitutes a major public health problem due to rapid urbanisation, lack of public toilets and low level of awareness.”
    According to him, open defecation is a public menace because it could easily lead to outbreak of communicable diseases like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, intestinal infections, respiratory diseases and tuberculosis.
    He said it also causes air and water pollution when human faeces are washed away during the rainy season.
    “Water supplies can become contaminated with such faecal matters; we all know that human faeces contain bacteria and germs which consequently contaminate water people use for drinking,” he said.
    Okareh said in order to curb the menace of open defecation, government at all levels should increase public awareness on the health risk it poses to the populace.
    “Government can also exhibit political will to stop open defecation through construction of public toilets in strategic places, stringent sanitation laws and proper waste disposal,” he said.