PLEASE READ THIS
Lagos – Some health experts on Thursday urged members of the public to stop open defecation to reduce the burden of communicable diseases, especially in the challenging times of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
In interviews in Lagos, they described open defecation as a major cause of many water-borne, food-borne and environmental diseases.
Dr Femi Ajayi, a Public Health Consultant, said that open defecation had become a common, but worrisome practice in Nigeria.ok
“We see people defecating directly into the lagoon in the open. They do it under the bridges, on the walkways and as a matter of fact, any available space.
“This practice not only pollutes the soil and water resources, it pollutes the environment and the air we breathe in and gives room for the spread of avoidable diseases.
“Again, most homes have poor and inadequate sewage systems, thereby making human waste disposal difficult.
“Often times, faecal water and matters seep out of these sewages. These are hazardous to health,’’ he said.
Also, Dr Taiwo Oguntoyin, a Public Health Officer, said that poor toilet and sanitation habits had many negative consequences on human health.
“Poor toilet and sanitary habits affect the physical, mental, social and economic wellbeing of individuals.
“Human faeces always contain large number of germs that may cause diverse ailments when people become infected.
“This can lead to outbreaks of diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A, urinary tract infections, skin infections and a host of other diseases,’’ she said.
According to her, when people defecate in the open, there is every tendency that flies will feed on these faeces.
“Flies perch on faeces and expectedly, they fly away carrying some amounts of the faeces on their bodies. Then, they will go and perch on food.
“When this happens, the faeces and the germs in the human wastes are passed onto the food, which may later be eaten by another person, resulting in food and water borne ailments,’’ she said.
Oguntoyin said, “Again, where you have open defecation being practiced, the agricultural produce and drinking water will be contaminated.
“When rain falls, the faeces will be washed away by rain water and run into wells and streams. The germs in the faeces will then contaminate the water which may be used for drinking.
“You know in our environment, there are always broken water pipes, wells and other open sources of water in our communities. This is a major challenge.’’
The public health expert said that open defecation can also cause soil-transmitted worm infections.
She said, “Soil-transmitted worm infections are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in areas where sanitation is poor.
“The main species that infect people are the roundworm, the whipworm and the hookworms. Many of our people suffer it and there are dire consequences.
“All these impair the nutritional status of those infected, causing intestinal bleeding, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dysentery, reducing absorption of micronutrients, poor intelligence quotient, and in extreme cases, death.’’
In her remark, Mrs Modesta Nkorionye, a sanitary health consultant, said that there should be massive awareness on the implications of poor toilet habits.
Nkorionye said that Nigerians should cultivate good sanitation habits within their environments and should begin within ourselves as individual beings.
“Governments at all levels and individuals have to ensure the availability of clean toilets in homes and public places, especially to reduce incidences of open Defaecation.
“These public places include filling stations, markets, churches, offices, stadium, tourist centres, motor parks and strategic places along the highways.
“Many Nigerians are compelled to defecate in the open because there are no good toilet facilities or conveniences within their reach.
“In civilised societies, there are conveniences in public places and people freely access them. There are also cleaners on ground cleaning them regularly.
“In Nigeria, it is rare. Many travellers and destitute defecate in the open because there are no public toilets along the roads and highways.
“Even, our filling stations do not have toilets that commuters can have access to. It is a health and social challenge that needs to be urgently addressed.
“We need effective policies to rectify these anomalies as well as enforce punitive measures on offenders,’’ she said.
Nkorionye said that there were several basic rules for sanitation and provision of toilet facilities in public places.
“The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that there should be sufficient toilet facilities for the maximum number of people using the area during the day, about one toilet compartment for every 25 user.
“The toilet facilities should not be connected directly to kitchens. There must also be clean and reliable water supply and soap for hand washing, personal hygiene and flushing of toilet facilities.
“The toilet facilities must also be regularly cleaned. When facilities are clean, there is every tendency that people will use them well,’’ she said.
The sanitary consultant called for intensified public enlightenment campaigns on toilet usage.
“There should be consistent public awareness campaigns to enlighten people on the effects of open defecation and the need for proper faecal disposal methodologies, such as appropriate flushing of toilets.
“It is also important to keep emphasising on the importance of maintaining good personal hygiene, such as hand washing with soap.
“People should know where to defecate, the need to properly flush the toilets or dispose of faecal waste, as well as generally maintain good personal hygiene.
“All these require discipline and consistency,’’ she said.
Another expert, a consultant hepatologist, Dr Idris Durojaiye, said that it was not advisable for people to defecate in public places to avoid harm to others in the community.
Durojaiye, a consultant at a Lagos based laboratory, Clina Lab, said that such unhealthy habits led to water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery, and diarrhoea.
He said, however, that in the case of the EVD, defecating in public areas had not been scientifically established.
“The Ebola virus does not last too long outside the body, and so, defecating in gutters and other public places have not been established as a means of transmitting Ebola virus.
“The only established transmission is by personal contact with an Ebola patient’s vomit and other bodily fluid,“ he said.
He said that more public enlightenment and provision of public toilets would help to reduce number of people defecating in public places.
“Even in public buildings such as eateries and petrol stations, there has to be stricter rules on the provision of a number of toilets for usage.
“People can be made to pay a token for usage in those places as part of efforts to maintain hygiene and encourage people to use such facilities,“ Durojaiye said.
Also speaking, a Family Health Physician, Dr Kayode Bakare said, “Everybody should be an agent of campaign in this situation, because it is something that can affect anybody.
“People should take their personal hygiene to the next level and environmental sanitation is of good use now. People should dispose of their wastes properly, “ he said.
In his comment, Mr Akin Akingbehin, the chairman, Lagos State Environmental Health Officer (EHOAN), said that more public toilets would be provided in the Lagos metropolis.
Akingbehin said that most of the public toilets built by the state government were given out to private investors to raise money for the upkeep of these facilities.
He said that any public toilet that was inaccessible was either under construction or was being refurbished for improved services.
“ Most of the toilets in Lagos State are being managed under the supervision of the local governments.
“We ensure that those toilets that are available are functional to achieve public hygiene, especially now that the Ebola Virus Disease is the issue,’’ he said.
Akingbehin said that more open spaces are now being used to build toilets to ensure that people stop defecating openly and imbibe the culture of using public conveniences rightfully.
No comments:
Post a Comment