Editorial by Ghanaian Times: It’s possible to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) society

Ghana on Sunday joined the world to mark World Toilet Day, a day set aside by the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to address the need to have proper access to toilets and the significance of having good hygiene in the daily lifestyle globally.

On November 19, every year, World Toilet Day is ob­served to create conversations related to good sanitation and how we all can do our bit in improving the state of affairs.

This has gone on ever since World Toilet Day became a major event in 2010 when the United Nations declared a human right to water and san­itation as a basic human right.

Indeed, Ghana commemo­rated the day with a call on all to help demystify discussions around toilets.

Under the theme: “Ac­celerating change through strategic partnership: Every contribution counts” the day was climaxed with a durbar at Mpoase in the Ablekuma West Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.

Speaking at the durbar, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr. Freda Akosua Prempeh, said the need to demystify discussions around toilets had become imperative now than ever if the country was to achieve its goal of an Open Defecation Free (ODF) society.

She said breaking the myth surrounding toilets would not only create room for people to talk about something natural and unavoidable but would also help people to appreciate the need to own their toilet facilities.

Dr. Prempeh explained that World Toilet Day was to among other things break the taboo around toilets and to raise awareness of the daily struggles of the over 2.5 billion people around the world in accessing basic services like toilet facilities.

The government, she emphasised was working to improve sanitation with the provision of household toilets as a key component of every­thing it was.

The minister pointed out that even though more than 40,000 household toilets had been provided under the GAMA project, much more remained to be done.

She said for the country to win the fight against Open Defecation (OD) all stake­holders, including the citi­zenry must adopt a change in attitude.

The Ghanaian Times can­not disagree that sanitation, particularly open defecation has been a very difficult public health condition in the country. As a matter of fact, the government continues to spend a lot of resources on sanitation nationwide but the situation continues to pose a challenge.

As said earlier, sanitation is a basic human right. Therefore, the need for good sani­tation is fundamental but it is high time that we understood that we owe it as a responsibility to contribute towards environmental cleanliness.

We are all aware that open defecation and bad hygiene can lead to severe illnesses which would eventually increase the health bill of the country.

Besides, the standard of living can drop depending on access to proper toilets, and in rural areas, open defecation and the absence of proper sanitation facilities can lead to the spread of diseases in the communities.

We believe that when we put all hands on deck and consciously observe environmental cleanliness, it is possible to achieve an open defecation-free society.