Tanzania: Campaign To Improve Sanitation In Rural Areas

April 28, 2010 ·

Inadequate sanitation has been a thorn in the flesh for many governments, especially in developing countries, as it is a major cause of diseases world-wide.  Improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on health both in households and across communities and this has led to many countries initiating projects aimed at promoting sanitation especially in rural areas.

Tanzania, like any other developing country is not an exception as in a bid to improve sanitation, unveiled the Household and Community Latrine Improvement Campaign, "Choo Bora Chawezekana, Maendeleo Hadi Chooni", last week.

Launching the campaign, Elias Chinamo, the Assistant Director for Environmental Health, Hygiene and Sanitation in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said: "Improving rural sanitation, including use of quality toilets, could save thousands of lives every year, bringing about increases in productivity and economic development," adding that it can further reduce diarrhea diseases, one of the leading causes of child mortality in Tanzania, by 36 per cent.

Diarrhea infections, according to him, claim about 30 per cent of neonatal deaths in Tanzania and are responsible for 12 per cent  of illness in children of ages 0-15.

He also said that for every dollar spent on water and sanitation, $11 is gained by preventing losses in productive time, education, costs of medicines and health services.

Chinamo added that processes are at the final stage to prepare a policy on water and sanitation, which is spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and social Welfare, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments and the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.

Once in place, according to him, the policy will address all issues concerning sanitation including disposal of human waste and construction of quality toilets.

Emphasizing the importance of the campaign, Mr Jason Cardosi, the World Bank Country Director said: "Although Tanzania already has very high basic latrine coverage, estimated at 80 per cent, the quality of the facilities in terms of protecting health as well as general consumer satisfaction is low."

He said that the issue of better sanitation was something not to ignore and that his organisation was highly concerned with how Tanzania is responding to various challenges geared towards achieving Millennium Development Goals.

The initiative, being implemented in 132 districts countrywide, focuses on increasing priority of sanitation within homes and communities with the aim of bettering latrine facilities that are used by all members of the family.

It also lets communities set sanitation targets and train suppliers to expand businesses to respond to consumer sanitation needs in terms of costs and quality and engages rural heads of households to improve their latrine facilities and also upgrade latrine management.

The campaign is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the World Bank, the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP), UNICEF and other partners.

Source: This Day / FANRPAN News, 27 April 2010

SANITATION STILL SCARCE!

Ghana: About Six Million Ghanaians Still Practice Open Defecation

April 28, 2010 ·

Twenty per cent of Ghanaians, representing about six million of the population practice open defecation, because they do not have access to toilet facilities or did not know the health implications.

Mr Tony Tsekpetse-Akuamoah, Environmental Health Technologist at the Environmental Health and Sanitation Directorate (EHSD) who made this known in Accra on Monday said sanitation coverage in the country improved by only three per cent in five years, spanning the 10 per cent in 2005 to 13 per cent in 2010.

He was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), organised by Plan Ghana, a non-governmental community child-centred organisation in Accra on Monday.

It is being attended by Plan Ghana officials drawn from its operational communities, representatives from selected district assemblies and non-governmental organisations on water and sanitation.

The workshop is to build the capacity of participants to work within the context of national condition to support adoption of CLTS as a new strategy of addressing environmental sanitation and hygiene in the communities.

It is also aimed at collating experience and assess what other partners are doing to ensure environmental sanitation in the communities.

CLTS is a community owned initiative which is creating the platform for communities to take up the responsibility to construct their own toilets and other sanitation structures to ensure their safety.

Mr Tsekpetse-Akuamoah said EHSD had reviewed its environmental sanitation policy and recommended adoption of the CLTS concept to ensure that every household had access to the facility for their safety.

Mr Tsekpetse-Akuamoah called on government to ensure the speedy release of funds for the implementation of the concept.

Mr Samuel Paulos, Country Director of Plan Ghana, whose speech was read on his behalf said the workshop would enable the participants to find a common ground to streamline activities of Plan into the national strategies aimed at addressing issues of sanitation and hygiene in the communities.

He said Plan Ghana believed that CLTS technology was the right way to address sanitation and hygiene because it was easy to adopt and maintain.

Mr Martin Keijzer, Senior Water and Sanitation Advisor, Plan Netherlands, who undertook comprehensive studies on the CLTS concept, called for attitudinal change and awareness creation to enable people in the communities embrace the concept.

Source: GNA – Ghana News Agency, 26 April 2010

UGANDA KNOWLEDGE NODE STATEMENT ON WORLD HEALTH DAY 2010

NETWAS Uganda

Uganda knowledge node

 

Health Risks, Safe Handling and benefits of Feaces and Urine from an Ecosan Toilet (UDDT).

 

The Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) collects urine separately from faeces and water.

Did you know that 1 gram of excreta can contain? 10,000,000 viruses 1,000,000 bacteria 1,000 parasite cysts 100 parasite eggs

Safe urine and feaces for reuse in our gardens can be achieved
by dehydration (addition of dry material like ash, sawdust, dry soil, husks after every toilet use) and Decomposition (buried underground for a period of 12 months along with household and garden organic refuse).

 

Other precautionary measures;

• Wear gloves, rubber boots (shoes), and overalls when emptying processing chambers or pits.
  
• Bathe well afterwards- including careful hand washing with water and soap
  
• Only adults and not children should empty the chambers/pits
  
• Dig or plough the dehydrated feaces into the soil immediately upon application
  
• Handling and transport systems should involve minimal contact with the feaces.
  
• Have a well designed / constructed closed systems/ facility with vent pipes of the right length and diameter.
  

Proper Ecosan   + Good post-toilet   + Good hygienic   = Safe urine and feaces

Toilet use            handling               behavior              

 

Benefits of an Ecosan toilet (UDDT); It provides both urine and feacal matter which play an essential role in building healthy soils and providing valuable nutrients for plants recycle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Netwas Uganda with support from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) under its Ecological Sanitation Research programme is implementing a project aimed at promoting sustainable sanitation through facilitating and coordinating capacity development and knowledge management.

 

For more information contact:

The EcosanRes Uganda knowledge node hosted by NETWAS Uganda

Plot 2220 Port bell Road, Kitintale    

Aqua Complex, 1st floor

Email: netwasuganda@gmail.com

Tel: 0414 577 463/ 0772 662 0662