By Fatima Mohammed
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on the burden of diseases attributable to unsafe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services in its 183 WHO member states of which Nigeria is included.
The report observed that the world could have prevented 1.4 million deaths just by the availability of the proper WASH services.
Diarrheal diseases topped the list, accounting for 1 million of these deaths.
Other diseases listed were acute respiratory infections, undernutrition, and soil-transmitted helminthiasis.
A noteworthy highlight of this report was the fact that most of these deaths occur in the WHO African and Southeast Asian regions.
More worrisome is the fact that the WHO noted that these figures are an underestimation of the true burden of such WASH-related diseases in these regions.
Why we should worry about open defecation
Despite seeming like a basic convenience, many countries, including Nigeria are still struggling to meet the sanitation and hygiene needs of their people.
Open defecation refers to defecation in places which are not toilets. These could include fields, forests, bushes, or even bodies of water.
This practice is widely criticized for its negative impacts, not just on the health of the people but its disregard for human rights and dignity.
Open defecation increases the burden of disease on Nigeria’s already vulnerable healthcare system.
It infringes on the right of women and girls to a life of dignity and hampers the quality of their hygiene, particularly their menstrual hygiene.
In some cases, open defecation may promote abuse and violation of women and girls, as has been established by some researchers.
In addition, the education of girls becomes at risk when they are forced to skip classes due to the absence of adequate toilet facilities.
Statistics
Although the United Nations (UN) says that progress has been achieved over time in the fight against open defecation, nearly 673 million people are still practicing open defecation, with more than 90 percent of them living in rural areas.
The UN further identifies increased population growth in some countries including Nigeria, to “localized growth in open defecation.”
Also, a desk study carried out by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) of the World Bank observed that Nigeria currently loses 1.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to poor hygiene annually.
The figure, which is about N455 billion, stands to be grossly underestimated due to a scarcity of data on the subject.
The Nigerian situation
In 2015, Nigeria launched its national roadmap to achieve an open defecation-free country.
The document created by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources was supported by key stakeholders including UNICEF.
This roadmap provides certain guidelines such as the use of improved technology, provision of sanitation facilities in public places as well as promotion of sanitation at the community level.
According to this policy roadmap, Nigeria needs to build nearly 20 million household toilets and 43,000 toilets in schools, health centers, and public places to address the gap in its WASH infrastructure.
This, it said, requires an average annual investment of about N100 billion.
Way out
It is not just enough for the government and its partners to build toilet facilities, especially in public places.
We must ensure that more efforts are made to maintain these facilities, especially through the adequate supply of water.
Stakeholders must also work towards changing the mindsets of people owing to long-term traditions that encourage open defecation.
As outlined by the mandate of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of leaving no one behind, all efforts by the government and its partners must make sure that they put into consideration every community no matter how remote to rid the country of the hazards associated with open defecation.
Recently, UNICEF said that only 110 out of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria have attained an open defecation-free status leaving 664 others still yet to meet the target.
While the government and its partners make efforts at building toilets across the country, similar efforts must be made to improve access to clean water in the country.
There is also a need for regulatory reforms to ensure that private sector players and even individuals play their part in ensuring that Nigeria achieves the targets for improved WASH in line with the SDGs by 2030.
