Over 1 billion people defaecate in the open, UN says

KENYA: More than one billion people do not have toilets. According to the UN, 2.4 billion people do not have adequate sanitation and defaecate in the open.

As Kenyans joined the rest of the World in celebrating World Toilet Day yesterday, the UN indicated that women and girls risk rape and abuse, because they lack toilets that offer privacy.

risk of disease and malnutrition, especially for women and children.

According to the Ministry of Health, Kenya loses 30,000 people annually through diarrhoea occasioned by poor sanitation. Some 16 per cent of these deaths being among children below five. Every year, Kenya loses Sh27 billion due to poor sanitation. This year's World Toilet Day was celebrated, focusing on the link between sanitation and nutrition, and drawing the world's attention to the importance of toilets in supporting better nutrition and improved health.

In the Sustainable Development Goals, goal number six is aimed at ensuring that clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world.

Steve Arika, a crusader for proper sanitation in Kisii town, said that people should be encouraged to take action and help promote the idea that more needs to be done to put up better toilets and avoid the traditional makeshifts.

"Everyone worldwide must have access to a toilet. Public health officers should ensure that every homestead has a toilet particularly during this period that we are experiencing El Nino rains," Mr Arika said.

He added: "Lack of sanitation, and particularly open defaecation, contributes to the incidence of diarrhoea and to the spread of intestinal parasites, which in turn causes malnutrition."

The aim of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about the people in the world who don't have access to a toilet, despite the fact that it is a human right to have clean water and sanitation.

The 'Sanitation for All' Resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly in July 2013, designating November 19 as the World Toilet Day.