Over 1.5 million individuals succumb annually to diarrheal diseases, including cholera, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), which also emphasized that the illness “is alarmingly re-emerging in numerous nations.”
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director General of the World Health Organization, declared this Saturday evening in a video message on his official Twitter account to observe World Toilet Day (WTD).
He further stated that nearly half of the global population lacks access to safe sanitation facilities and that one in five individuals do not have a toilet.
Expanding on this, he remarked: “health systems also face challenges from the burden of increasingly resilient infections, girls leave school, and economies are affected.
“Today, in anticipation of the UN 2023 conference on water, we are initiating the countdown to 2030, urging a fourfold increase in sanitation efforts.”
Sanitation in Africa
In addition, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, indicated that 779 million people in Africa lack access to essential sanitation services.
In a press release commemorating the 2022 World Toilet Day with the theme “Sanitation and Groundwater,” Ms. Moeti emphasized this point, adding that 208 million people still defecate in public.
World Toilet Day is celebrated each year on November 19.
She asserted, “The availability of safely managed sanitation services, along with safely managed drinking water facilities and proper hygiene practices, is crucial for safeguarding public health. It contributes to achieving the SDG 6 target and is vital for the realization of all other sustainable development goals.”
“From 2000 to 2020, Africa’s population surged from 800 million to 1.3 billion. During this period, approximately 290 million people gained access to at least basic sanitation services.
“The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme report on progress regarding drinking water and sanitation reveals that only 29 percent of healthcare facilities in Africa are equipped with basic sanitation services.
“As per the Joint Monitoring Programme 2020 statistics, 33 percent of households in Africa have basic sanitation services, with 21 percent using safely managed sanitation facilities. Two out of three people lack safely managed sanitation facilities.”
Safe toilet by 2030
The WHO Africa director continued, “Africa needs to progress on average four times more swiftly to guarantee everyone has a safe toilet by 2030, as the connection between sanitation and groundwater cannot be overlooked.”
She added that areas with high population densities, pit latrines, and septic tanks situated close to water sources drawing from shallow aquifers present significant health hazards.
“For women and girls, specifically, having toilets at home, school, and work enables them to reach their potential and play a full role in society, particularly during menstruation and pregnancy.
“The indignity, inconvenience, and risks associated with the lack of access to safely managed sanitation hinder their full involvement in society.
“Toilets foster advancements in health, gender equality, education, economics, and environmental conditions,” she pointed out.
Ms Moeti also recommended that the relationship between groundwater and sanitation should be reinforced through inclusive policies and coordinated actions.
“Hence, collaboration between policymakers, water resource, sanitation experts, and practitioners should be enhanced,” she concluded.
