By Kweku Quansah
Today, 19th
November, 2012 is World Toilet Day. A day set aside by the international
community to draw attention to the fact that a whopping 2.5 billion people in
the world, representing 37% of the world’s total population, do not have any
known place where they defaecate.
Millions of people the world over, struggle
everyday just to attend a simple basic nature’s call. In the process, some are
bitten by reptiles, have cuts and get maimed. Millions of innocent girls and
women also get raped and live with the psychological trauma for the rest of
their life. On World Toilet Day, the world unites to create awareness and make
the noise about this global sanitation challenge. It is commemorated across the
globe and people from all works of life -the media, private sector, development
partners, civil society, government agencies, children and women- join hands to
advocate for clean and safe toilets for all.
On this unique day,
one cannot forget the commonest spectacle in our small towns, peri-urban and
major cities virtually every day: the indiscriminate disposal of human
feces. Feces is found everywhere more
especially around our water bodies, beaches,
bushes, open spaces, gutters, refuse dumps, under bridges and channels,
uncompleted buildings and backyards. In 2011, the Water and Sanitation
Programme (WSP) of the World Bank did a study on Ghana. It was revealed that a
typical Ghanaian spends two and half days every year to look for an obscure or
‘private’ place to defaecate. This has
huge losses in economic terms. As a
nation, we lose close to GHC 37million every year due to this practice. This calls for action. We need to do
something about it as a nation.
The main reason why
people do it openly is the lack of or inadequate toilet facilities in our
homes, schools, public places, communities and workplaces. Where they even
exist, they are poorly maintained. Many toilets have become a source of disease
transmission and distribution. The pungent smell that emanates from some of these
places of ‘inconvenience’ is intolerable. Some have become death traps and safe
homes and breeding grounds for all types of reptiles, rodents, etc. This situation de-motivates people and puts
them off from using these facilities. Is it any wonder then that such people
resort to open defecation?
Besides, a number of
people also like to defaecate outside for the pleasure of it. Squatting in open places to defaecate comes
with what such people term the fringe
benefits of ‘free air-condition’ ,and such satisfied ‘users’ find it extremely
difficult to let this behaviour go. I read
a story about a rich family in Asia. This family packs themselves every morning
into a Benz Saloon Car and go to the outskirts of the city, into bushes, to
defaecate. This family has 3 toilets in their house and the question is why they
are not using them. It is simply an issue of old habits die hard.
This year’s World
Toilet Day Theme adopted by Ghana is simply ‘’ACHIEVING OPEN DEFECATION FREE
GHANA’’. Yes, we need to achieve Open-Defecation-Free state sooner than later.
As a country we cannot bear the social and economic cost of open defecation any
more. The most current statistics on Ghana (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2010) shows that as high as 19% of Ghanaians do not have a
‘fixed defecation address’ and as such defaecate in the open every morning.
This translates into 4.6 million. When one does a 20 year trend analysis, that
is from 1990 to 2010, we have merely reduced the percentage of Ghanaians who defaecate
in the open from 22% in 1990 to 19% in 2010. Just a marginal three percentage
point reduction over two decades. What a snail pace reduction.
Sadly enough, the
4.6 million Ghanaians who defaecate in the open every morning knowingly or unknowingly
contaminate our water sources and the general environment and as well spread
diseases like diarrhoea which according to a study by the Water and Sanitation
Programme of the World Bank study, kills about 5,100 precious Ghanaian children
under five years every year. This is disturbing. We do not have to allow our
innocent children to die.
Can you imagine that
just one gram of human feces dropped in an open place, contains 10 million
viruses and 1 million bacteria? These pathogens spread diseases of all kinds leading
to deaths and maiming of our citizens. It also causes intestinal worm
infestation, a major contributor to stunting in children and malnutrition which
hold back their physical and mental growth.
Acquisition and use
of toilet has moved from the health arena and has now become a human rights
issue. This was declared by the UN. There
are even emerging sound economic arguments for sanitation.
Many brilliant girls
have stopped schooling because their schools do not have toilets and the
accompanying hand washing and hygiene facilities. These girls have missed out on
this important and crucial life ‘support system’ called schooling. Can we
imagine the socio-economic consequences and pressure these girls will later on
in life, put on society?
The challenges in
sanitation are numerous and complex but the consequences for not tackling them
are even more expensive and complex.
There is therefore
the urgent need for government and all and sundry to prioritise sanitation as a
social service. As a country, we need to target the sanitation sub-sector for
investment. The current investment into sanitation is less than 1% of the GDP.
Meanwhile as a country we are losing almost 1.6% of our GDP as a result of poor
sanitation. Investments are required not only for the populace to enjoy maximum
health and hygiene benefits but also to reduce the economic losses the country
is experiencing.
Our Metropolitan,
Municipal and District Assemblies need to enforce the building regulations
concerning construction of household latrines. Building regulations are being
flouted with impunity. For example some landlords in our cities, convert
toilets and other sanitary facilities in their houses into living rooms and
rent them out to unsuspecting tenants.
Targeting the
sanitation needs of the poor and the vulnerable groups in society especially
women and children will be a right move, after all sanitation is dignity.
Until the Almighty
grant us the grace and health to commemorate yet another world toilet day next
year, we should be each other’s keeper and take the pledge of supporting the national
effort of eliminating open defecation. Talk about it, act, own a toilet in
your house, use a toilet. It is more dignifying to do so. Your health comes
from where you defaecate.
Let us all scaling
up efforts in eliminating open defecation from Ghana. It is achievable.
With all hands on deck WE CAN STOP OPEN DEFECATION IN
GHANA.
Kweku
Quansah
Ministry
of Local Government and Rural Development
Environmental
Health and Sanitation Directorate
Accra
