Sh900m lost yearly due to poor sanitation

Over fifty per cent of children in Nakuru County are stunted, the latest figures from an Aids populatuon agency have revealed.

Simon Makori, the Associate Director for Community Health in Rift Valley at the Aids, Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIAplus), said stunted children suffer a higher mortality rate due to infectious diseases.

“Diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles as well as being more likely to have poorer cognitive and educational outcomes are some of the indicators of stunted growth,” he said.

The statistics, he said, had been contributed to by poor sanitation and open defaecation among children.

Mr Makori noted the county was losing Sh978 million annually due to poor sanitation, including loss of access time, premature death and health care costs and productivity.

“These estimates do not include some costs that could be significant, such as water pollution and tourism, and is therefore likely to underestimate the true cost of poor sanitation,” he said.

The senior officer said Nakuru had improved in sanitation management.

“Thirty five per cent were using shared latrines, with a paltry 2.8 per cent defaecating in the open.

“The county is ranked number two out of the 47 by the Ministry of Health,” he said.

Makori was speaking to the Press when he visited various projects being implemented by the APHIAplus programme.

He said APHIAplus was working with county administrations to implement community-led total sanitation management in villages as part of implementing the Kenya National Sanitation Strategy of 2010.

“In Naivasha, the project has focused on 153 villages where 52 have already been declared open-defaecation free and in Narok we intend to cover 200 other villages,” he said.