World Toilet Day: 21% of Bauchi population practices open defecation
[ad_1]
More than 72 percent of schools in Bauchi State lack essential water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities for students and teachers.
Chairman of the Bauchi State Network of Civil Society Organizations, Mr. Jinjiri Garba, made this known on Friday at a press conference held to commemorate World Toilet Day 2023.
He added that 93% of health facilities and 97% of public facilities in the state were facing a similar shortage of WASH facilities.
Garba highlighted the urgent need to address these challenges and urged WaterAid and its partners to build water-safe communities and foster behavior change towards open defecation-free status by 2025. He emphasized the efforts of
He noted that despite progress, Nigeria is far from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, with millions of people lacking basic water and sanitation services.
He said WaterAid’s ongoing projects aim to provide clean water and hygiene education to communities in Bauchi State, addressing broader impacts on health, education and various sectors.
Citing statistics from the WASH National Outcome Routine Mapping (2021), Garba added that 97 per cent of public places across Bauchi State lack basic WASH facilities available to the public.
He said some of the WASH efforts include drilling water facilities, community-led sanitation programs and training of sanitation workers to contribute to the state’s goal of being open defecation free by 2025. Stated.
Mr Garba urged collective efforts to accelerate progress towards SDG 6 and break taboos around hygiene issues.
“Unfortunately, 21 per cent of Bauchi State’s population still practices open defecation, 72 per cent of the total number of schools, 93 per cent of the total number of health facilities and 97 per cent of public places do not have access to flush toilets. .”Facility.
“Despite the proven effectiveness of good hygiene practices as a first line of infectious disease prevention, approximately 60 million people in Nigeria lack access to basic water supplies and 167 million Lacking basic handwashing facilities, 48 million people still defecate in the open.
“Around the world, 70,000 children under the age of five die each year from diseases caused by a lack of clean water, adequate sanitation and proper sanitation services. “These statistics remain alarming as we remain far from achieving the SDG 6 goal of ensuring access,” he said.
[ad_2]
Source: dailypost.ng