Abstract:
Globally, an approximate of 2.5 billion citizens lack access to improved sanitation.
A facility is concluded to be improved when it hygienically filters out human waste
from a living environment. Absence of improved sanitation results in people
suffering from poor health lost of income, inconvenience and humiliation. The
second most alarming risk factor for poor health is lack of clean water and an
inadequate access to improved sanitation. Improper disposal of human waste
results in the increase of diarrhea-related diseases and mortality, especially in
kids and the younger generation. Part of the sanitation target of the Sustainable
Development Goals is to eliminate open defecation (OD) by 2030. Open
defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes, forests,
open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using the toilet to
defecate. Open defecation has upsetting repercussions for public health. Faecal
pollution in a surrounding and lack of sanitary precautions continue to be one of
the leading causes of child mortality, morbidity, under nutrition, stunting, and
can potentially have negative effects on cognitive growth. Lack of sanitation can
also be an obstacle to schooling and learning opportunities, with the female
counterparts, often predominantly vulnerable to these consequences of poor
services. Open defecation is a practice that has been implemented for a long
period of time ; it is a deeply-rooted custom in some societies. Eliminating it
requires a constant and a systematically timed shift in the behavior of entire
communities along with creating awareness on the adverse effects of poor
sanitation practices, so that a new norm of proper use of hygiene and other
sanitary practices are created and accepted.
