THE United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has disclosed
that over 50million Nigerians do not have access to toilets hence resort to open defecation and
that Nigeria ranks among the five countries in the world with the greatest
rates of open defecation.
According to a
report issued yesterday by Ijeoma Onuoha-Ogwe,
Communication Officer (Advocacy, Media and External Relations) on behalf of
Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF’s global water, sanitation and hygiene
programmes, to coincide with World Toilet Day.
Wijesekera was quoted as saying that “Nigeria loses over
150,000 children to diarrhea annually. After pneumonia, it is the biggest
killer of Nigeria’s under-fives; 88 per cent of diarrhoea cases in Nigeria are
attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. Where rates of toilet use are low,
rates of diarrhoea tend to be high.
“Intestinal parasites such as roundworm, whipworm and
hookworm are transmitted through contaminated soil in areas where open
defecation is practiced. Hookworm is a major cause of anaemia in pregnant
women, leading to malnourished, underweight babies.
“We need to bring concrete and innovative solutions to
the problem of where people go to the toilet, otherwise we are failing millions
of our poorest and most vulnerable children.”
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