Behavioural change is key in sanitation

At least 14.6 million Ugandans across the country still practice open defecation. According to the Ministry of Health permanent secretary, Dr Diana Atwine, the practice is widespread in both rural and urban areas despite government’s interventions on sanitation and hygiene. The statistic represents about 32.4 percent of the total population.

Similarly, according to the Ministry of Health, 36 percent of communities in the country have basic sanitation facilities, 24 percent of which are in rural areas and 47.9 percent are in urban areas, while hand washing in rural areas is at 35.8 percent and 53.8 percent for urban areas.

Open defecation has overwhelming concerns on public health in developing nations in general. For example, 75 percent of diseases afflicting Ugandans, including diarrheal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections and polio, are attributed to poor hygiene and sanitation.

Children, youth and women are often the most severely affected by poor sanitation and open defecation. For example, diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under five worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation and yet this can be prevented by clean water and sanitation.

Sustainable Development Goals Number Six aims at ‘Ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’.

Target 6.2 aims by 2030 to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations.

This can only be achieved if everyone embraces behaviour change. Some of the reasons advanced for open defecation range from poverty which hinders the construction of pit latrines/toilets or lack of government support in providing such facilities to cultural issues. A lack of education has also been advanced during the fight to end the  vice.

But this can change with the construction and maintenance of basic safe, usable, and non-polluting systems in communities that are in urgent need of them. Then, through education and motivation, these communities can be trained on how to use and maintain them as well as practice hand washing after using the facilities.

This is everyone’s duty and whoever is found in violation – where latrines are available - must be held accountable.

Hopefully, Uganda can achieve an Open Defecation Free (ODF) status before 2030.

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