The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Ghana, has observed World Toilet Day as part of the campaign to sensitise Ghanaians on the menace of open defecation.
The Day was observed under the theme “Stop Open Defecation Now. Own a Household Latrine”.
A statement from UNICEF to the Ghana News Agency said Ghana had made some progress in ending open defecation. However, more still needed to be done in the provision of "equitable access to basic toilets, as well as behaviour change programmes to ensure these toilets are used".
This, it believed, was crucial in ensuring the development of all children.
Susan Namondo Ngongi, UNICEF Ghana Representative, noted that a household latrine or toilet "gives children an opportunity to grow up in a healthy environment, to go to school and to live with the dignity they deserve”.
Some local communities such as Avenorkope in the Volta Region and Afaw in the Central Region, were cited as proof of the significant progress being made in the fight against open defecation, as they were officially declared 'Open Defecation Free'.
The statement said open defecation perpetuated diseases such as cholera, which killed 247 people in 2014.
Meanwhile, access to household toilet facilities in the country remained limited to 18 per cent of households in urban areas and nine per cent in rural areas.
This indicates that in Ghana, only one in seven people of the population has access to such facilities, while two in five basic schools lacked toilet facilities.
The unfortunate consequence of this situation is that 3,600 Ghanaian children die every year from diarrhea.
According to the statement, UNICEF, with support from the Canadian and Netherland governments, has been working to "educate and sensitise Ghanaians on the menace of open defecation as well as providing sanitation facilities to over 300 schools and health facilities in the country."
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