A water sanitation and hygiene specialist with World Vision Ghana, Attah Arhin has hinted that about 17.7 percent of the country’s population still defecates outside of their homes.
According to him, Ghana loses lots of its human resources to death due to open defecation.
He said it was the Ghana Statistical Service that disclosed this figure to the world during the institution’s last count of people living in the country.
He admitted the number is so alarming and that they will do everything possible to ensure that the people of Ghana get and live in good health as stated in the SDG’s goal 6.
Mr. Arhin believes that if the government agreed to establish the National Sanitation Authority as other institutions have done, it would go a long way to addressing the challenges confronting the country’s health space.
Ghana is ranked the 2nd country engaging in open defecation, a ranking many have described as unfortunate.
A report by the World Health Organization and UNICEF states that in 2021 about 3.6 million people around the world are without toilet and are in dyin uhg need of a toilet, and in Ghana, about 43% of our population are still without a standard toilet.”
Individuals and institutions have been asked to own a toilet premised on these reasons
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).
By: Daniel Asuku/Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
