Open defecation obstacle to health
Open defecation has been identified as an obstacle to human nutrition and overall health by an expert in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Mr Sunny Egbukile.
Egbukile, an engineer and Director at the Delta State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) asserted during a one-day training session for the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Committee (WASHCOM) and women’s cooperative societies in Obinomba, Ukwuani LGA.
The training focused on community-led total sanitation.
Egbukile emphasized the strong connection between Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and nutrition. He explained that increased water supply, hand washing with soap or ash, safe storage of drinking water, and the use of latrines can prevent diarrhoea, a leading cause of undernutrition.
He noted that many diseases, especially those affecting children, are linked to poor sanitation. The lack of adequate toilets can lead to diarrhoea, parasitic infections, and environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), which causes stunting.
“Toilets have a significant impact on children’s health and nutrition. Data shows that children thrive better in communities with improved sanitation and no open defecation,” Egbukile stated.
He further explained that adequate WASH is crucial in combating malnutrition in children under five. Open defecation allows flies to transfer diseases from faeces to food, and children playing in contaminated fields can easily get infected by putting their fingers in their mouths.
Egbukile also mentioned that the state aims to achieve open defecation-free status by 2030, as approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Currently, only two out of the twenty-five LGAs in the state are certified as open defecation-free.
Meanwhile, open defecation is identified to have huge negative impacts on nutrition and overall health, particularly for children.
Diarrheal disease, stunting growth, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), intestinal parasites and other diseases are associated with open defecation.
Experts say open defecation has an impact on cognitive development due to poor nutrition and repeated infections that can have long-term impacts on learning and productivity, as well as creating a cycle of poverty, as children who are malnourished are less likely to perform well in school, thereby limiting their future economic opportunities.
