ILE KAN SALANGA KAN As communicable diseases such as cholera wreak havoc in communities in different parts of the country, rural dwellers across Ogun State have been charged to embrace the use of latrines and shun open defecation to prevent outbreak of such diseases in their communities. Project Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency in the State (RUWATSAN), Engineer Olatokunbo Sonde gave the charge in Odeda while flagging off a two-day training on the promotion of hand washing and the use of latrines. Sonde said studies and experiences had shown that dirty environment, particularly where people defecate openly contaminated sources of water, thereby creating an ambience for communicable diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea and dysentery among others to fester. He lamented that many lives had been lost to this, maintaining that they could have been saved if modest hygiene rules of hand washing and proper disposal of faeces and other wastes were adhered to. One of the RUWATSAN official & also a Facilitator TUMININU OLUWAGBAMILA disclosed that the workshop was put together to sensitise participants on the need to put in place latrines and relevant hygiene and sanitation facilities in their various communities as well as observe the golden rule of washing hands properly before and after food. “This training is necessary for healthy living as well as combating of different communicable diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea in our villages,” he said. Speaking in the same vein, UNICEF consultant on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the State, Mr. Titus Akintunde said the training was targeted towards changing the beliefs of the rural dwellers and sensitise them on the danger posed by open defecation to their health emphasising that each household must have its own latrine. He added that unlike in the past, more rural dwellers were now aware of the importance of using latrines, saying that this not notwithstanding, the need to continually sensitise them cannot be over emphasised. “More than 50 communities are now open-defecation free, while above 500 latrines have been constructed through their own efforts and it is been put to use presently,” he revealed. Akintunde noted that it had been a success story in Odeda Local Government, particularly in Opeji ward, encouraging other communities to follow suit. On his part, the Baale of Araromi Obe village, a community in Opeji ward, Chief Rasaq Adesola Obe expressed gratitude to the State Government for its effort at curbing communicable diseases. He affirmed that dwellers in his community had become “one house, one latrine” compliant and had been enjoying a healthy and disease-free environment living. It would be recalled that Odeda local Government had earlier this year emerged winner of the UNICEF Community Led Total Sanitation Approach (CLTs) competition, a way of encouraging the construction and use of latrines in the rural areas.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 04:53:33 +0000
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