Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s)
Misturah Olatunji
The Nigeria Centre for Disease and Control has expressed worry over the rise on open defecation and poor sanitation across the country.
PLATFORM TIMES is an advocate of eradication of open defecation and had reported how residents in Ogun and Oyo States have involved in open defecation.
Six months after PLATFORM TIMES special report on open defecation in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, the State House of Assembly passed defecation prohibition bill into law.
With the passage of the bill, it is now mandated on all house owners and companies in the state to make provision for toilet facilities.
The Director General of the NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa told Punch Newspaper that nine out of the thirty-six states in the country are spreading cholera to other states due to poor sanitation in the areas.
The states according to Dr Adetifa include; Taraba, Cross River, Katsina, Borno, Kano, Ondo, Zamfara, Bayelsa, Bauchi and Adamawa as
“About nine states at the moment are responsible for over 80 per cent of the current cases of cholera. They include Taraba, Cross River, Katsina, Borno, Kano, Ondo, Zamfara, Bayelsa, Bauchi and Adamawa for this year alone. There are more states in the North but other regions are not left out, especially where there are relatively under-served public amenities such as water. They tend to look for water from natural sources which are probably contaminated because of indiscriminate defecation,”
The NCDC Director explained that 80 percent of the cholera cases recorded across the country was caused by open defecation and poor sanitation from the affected states.
Dr Adetifa called on the government to ensure provision of portable water supply in other to combat poor sanitation.
“Governments at all levels need to invest in the safe water supply to the citizens and invest in sewage disposal and stop open defecation. Also, we need infrastructure development, which will ensure flood and wastewater are properly channeled to avoid contaminating other water sources,”
“We are aware of everything that we need to know about it and the solution is to have potable water and safe disposal of sewage and avoid open defecation and so on. Sadly, there hasn’t been adequate investment in sanitation and hygiene. If potable water supply is provided to areas of cholera outbreak, cases will drop to nearly zero,” He said.
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