With Plateau State still having a high rate of open defecation of 56%, citizens have been encouraged to imbibe good sanitation and hygiene practices in their homes to minimize the chance of spreading disease in communities.
The citizens were called upon to provide sanitary facilities like toilets in their homes and encourage the proper use of such facilities by residents.
The Programme Officer, Media Action for Health, Environment and Sustainable Development, MAHESD, Joel Gomiyar made the appeal on Monday in Jos while creating awareness on this year’s World Toilet Day where he reiterated that issues of water, sanitation and hygiene are human rights issues which should not be toyed with.
He said, “The World Toilet Organisation in 2001, founded by a philanthropist in Singapore, Jack Sim, declared every November 19 as World Toilet Day and it was consciously chosen for better public approach, relevance and easier public messaging… This special day is observed to create conversations related to good sanitation and hygiene to see how we all can do our bit in achieving an open defecation-free society that can help reduce maternal mortality rate and avoidable outbreaks of diseases.
“Using this year’s theme: ‘Accelerating Change for Safe Sanitation’ we encourage the public to ensure that they keep their toilets and environment clean because several severe diseases can spread due to poor hygiene and poor sanitation. People should raise awareness of it among communities and also try to explore options to make sanitation accessible to all. Poor access to proper toilet facilities and good water supply affect the standard of living in our society.”
“Over the years, Open Defection (OD) and Bad Hygiene (BH) have been the major causes that have led to severe cases of illnesses in our neighbourhood. It is quite unfortunate that in rural areas, open defecation and the absence of proper sanitation facilities are still the order of the day. Therefore, we join the rest of the world in observing World Toilet Day to address the need to have proper access to toilets, good water, sanitation and hygiene in communities.
“Sanitation, good hygiene and access to clean toilets and water are basic human rights needs and it is on this basis that we observe World Toilet Day yearly because we believe that health is wealth in every society. Therefore, MAHESD, in collaboration with Plateau State Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency (PEPSA), is bringing people together to create awareness on the importance of sanitation.”
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