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As Rivers State joins the rest of the world to celebrate World Toilet Day, the Director General of Rivers State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Mr. Napoleon Adah, says the agency is working hard to stop the practice of open defecation in the country. state
Napoleon who spoke to The Tide in the background of the celebration said that the agency is also working with some local government areas especially in the river areas of the state to check the trend.
He said RUWASSA has started a massive awareness program across the state on the need to end open defecation.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) says that more than 1.5 million people die each year from diarrhea.
The Director General of the organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus also said that one person in five does not have access to a toilet, and almost one in two lacks safe sanitation services.
He told the Tide source that more than 1.5 million people die each year from diarrheal diseases, including cholera, which he said: “has risen alarmingly in many countries.”
The Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, disclosed this Saturday evening in a message to commemorate the World Toilet Day (WTD).
He added that one in five people do not have access to a toilet, and almost one in two lack safe sanitation services.
Speaking further, he said: “health systems are also struggling with the burden of increasingly resistant infections, girls are dropping out of school, and the economy is suffering.
“Today, ahead of the 2023 UN conference on water, we launch the countdown to 2030 that calls for a fourfold acceleration of sanitation.”
Health in Africa
The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, also revealed that 779 million people in Africa do not have access to essential health services.
Mrs. Moeti said this in a press statement commemorating the WTD 2022 with the theme: “Sanitation and Groundwater”, adding that 208 million still practice open defecation.
She said: “Access to safely managed sanitation services, in combination with safely managed drinking water services and good hygiene.
The head of WHO Africa added that “Africa must work on average four times faster to ensure that everyone has a safe toilet by 2030, as the connection between sanitation and groundwater does not can be overlooked.”
He added that densely populated urban environments, pit latrines and septic tanks located near water points that draw from surface aquifers create potentially serious health risks.
“For women and girls, in particular, toilets at home, at school, and at work help them realize their potential and play their full role in society, especially during menstruation and pregnancy.
“The indignity, inconvenience and danger of not having access to safely managed sanitation is an obstacle to their full participation in society.
“Toilets drive improvements in health, gender equality, education, the economy and the environment,” he said.
Ms Moeti also suggested that the link between groundwater and sanitation needs to be strengthened through inclusive policy and coordinated implementation.
“Thus, cooperation between policy makers, water resources, health specialists and practitioners should be increased,” he said.
World Toilet Day is celebrated on November 19 every year.
By: John Bibor
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