Deputy Director of ministry of sanitation and water Resources, Mr Kwaku Quansah has admonished Ghanaians to ensure a toilet facility in their households and institutions.
His advice comes ahead of this year’s World Toilet Day, which comes on to Friday, November 19 with the aim of eradicating open defecation in Greater Kumasi.
In a stakeholders dialogue meeting today in Kumasi, Mr Quansah said, public health depends much on a toilet facility, but the country has not attained a great feat with respect to that.
He said Ghana is ranked the 2nd country engaging in open defecation, adding that “this ranking is not one of the best for our dear country.”
He then referenced findings from the World Health Organisation and UNICEF to buttress his point on the lack of public health.
On his part, Ing. George Asiedu disclosed that, only 21 percent house hold in Greater Kumasi own a household toilet while others are in dying need of a toilet since about 43% of our population in Ghana are still without a standard toilet.”
He described lives without a toilet facility as “dirty, dangerous and undignified”, insisting that “toilet is dignity, water is life.”
Queen mother of Racecourse Traders Association Mrs Grace Agyei Darko in a sideline interview with Silver FM’s Akwadaa Nyame highlighted five reasons an individual and institution must own a toilet facility.
They are:
Toilet keeps human waste out of water and food chain systems
Toilet maintain human dignity
Toilet protect us from being infected with communicable disease such as; diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid etc.
Toilet keeps girls in school during menstruation
Toilet create jobs (sanitation systems need people to run them).
She, therefore, used the opportunity to encourage “everyone to own a toilet.”
Meanwhile, government has been urged to spearhead the creation of a country that appreciates public health by allocating enough funds to provide the many Ghanaian households with toilet facilities.
“Toilet derive improvement in gender equality, education, economics and the environment. There will be no sustainable future without toilets. There is the need for government to see toilets as a human right, and stiffer measures should be put in place to close the gap.
“…Governments must listen to the people who are being left behind without access to toilets and allocate specific funding to include them in planning and decision-making processes.”.
