Open Defecation, Threat To Public Health – Environmentalist

The lack of improved toilets in households and public places in Mubi-North Local Government Area of Adamawa, is a major threat to public health in the area, an environmentalist, Mr Jika Hayatu, has said.

 Hayatu, an Assistant Director, Health Education and Women Affairs in the council, told newsmen in Mubi  on Monday that the lack of adequate toilet facilities in households exposed residents to diseases.

He expressed concern over the indiscriminate disposal of waste  and defecation in open places in the area.

 ”The rate of defecation in open places is alarming and a major health problem,” Hayatu said.

 He said the council had embarked on an enlightenment campaign to sensitize communities on the need to build improved latrines and to ensure proper waste disposal.

He said that 10 health educators and sanitary inspectors had been deployed for the exercise.

The checks revealed inadequate provision of public toilets in motor parks, markets and other places, a situation which forced people to defecate in bushes and fields.

Meanwhile, the Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board (ADSUBEB), in collaboration with the MDGs Office, has constructed Improved Ventilated Latrines (VIPs) in public schools but which are poorly maintained, our correspodnent reports.

 According to statistics from the National Population Commission (NPC), more than 57.3 per cent of the households in the North-East zone use pit latrines.

 The 2006 Population and Housing Census of the NPC also showed that 22.5 per cent of the population engaged in open defecation while 8.7 per cent used public toilet facilities with only 4.7 per cent having access to Water Closet (WC).

 ”A significant proportion of the population reportedly goes to the “bush/open fields” in absence of toilets within the dwelling. This is a major sanitation challenge and a gender issue,” the NPC document stated.