Stories by Etta Michael Bisong
Abuja
Stakeholders in the water, hygiene and sanitation sector have decried that over 121 people representing about 72% of the entire population are still living without access to basic toilet in Nigeria.
Country Representative of WaterAid Nigeria, Dr. Micheal Ojo while giving the statistics during a s trategic media round table discussion to commemorate the 2014 World Toilet Day in Abuja, estimated that nearly 40 million Nigerians still defecate in the open.
This situation according to him harms the health of children particularly those below five years and often add to the challenges of lifetime legacy of disease and poverty.
“Those children need our government to collectively step up and commit that by 2030 no home, no hospital or school will be without a toilet and clean water,” he said.
Dr. Ojo said the open letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, coincides with a new briefing released by WaterAid: ‘Child of Mine’ which states that sanitation ‘’remains one of the most neglected issues in developing countries and international development aid.’’
The letter highlights that, “this is despite a quarter of the 162 million children globally who have had their growth stunted and their physical and cognitive development impaired, because they suffered repeated bouts of diarrhea when very young.”
Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 88% of cases of diarrhea are caused by a lack of access to basic sanitation, unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene provision.
Globally, over 12 million children are estimated to have died from 2000 to 2013 because of diarrhea diseases. Of these deaths, 10.6 million have been as a result of a lack of these services.
WaterAid Nigeria is calling on the government to commit to backing a new goal for everyone to have access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2030.
National Coordinator of YouthWASH Nigeria, Nature Obiakor while remarking on the issue observed that, poor sanitation, hygiene and lack of clean water contributes to the deplorable health conditions especially among children and women in Nigeria.
In view of this and the goal of federal government to eradicate transmission of the Wild Poliovirus in Nigeria at the end of the year, Obiakor stressed that polio is an oral feacal disease thriving under poor hygiene and sanitation conditions as well as an unavailability of clean water sources.
“We lend our voice to the call for universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene,” he said.