45 Million Nigerians Still Defecate In The Open - UNICEF

The Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) of United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Kannan Nadar, in a briefing in Abuja, on Monday [Nov. 18], said “in Nigeria, over 100 million people do not have access to improved toilet facilities, out of which 45 million defecate in the open.”

At a press briefing to commemorate the World Toilet Day, the UNICEF official said lack of toilet facilities and indiscriminate disposal of faeces in the environment posed a great danger to the health of individuals.

Similarly, Ms Tolani Busari, the Head of Governance, WaterAid Nigeria, said poor sanitation and dirty water damaged the economy of developing countries.

She added that nearly 100,000 children under the age of five died of diarrhoea in Nigeria every year, as a result of the poor level of access to sanitation.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, has called on Nigerians to desist from open defecation, which exposes to diseases.

Professor Chukwu, who was represented at the briefing by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Ambassador Sani Bala, said that cholera could be stopped if Nigerians would desist from open defecation.

He further stated that Nigeria was collaborating with some international development partners to introduce community-led total sanitation, primarily aimed at mobilising communities to take actions towards stopping open defecation practice.

Posted: at 19-11-2013 08:39 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac

We are talking of having access to food, you are talking of having access to improved toilet facilities (though good), but we have to eat first before defecating.

---

Posted: at 19-11-2013 12:02 PM (10 years ago) | Hero