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Ethiopia: Poor Hygiene, Sanitation Account for 85 Percent of Illness
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The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
24 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Binyam Tamene
Addis Ababa
Achieving sustainable access to improve sanitation along with personal hygiene and safe water supply can reduce 85 percent of country's health problem, a new report by the ministry of Health revealed on Saturday.
The 'Hygiene and Sanitation report released on Water Day 2008, indicates trachoma, malaria, Cholera, Shigellosis, Typhoid fever, Viral, Parasites, Protozoa, diarrhoeal diseases and other debilitating diseases can all be reduced with better water, hygiene and sanitation facilities.
A report released by Hygiene and Sanitation Movement in the Ministry of Health put forward latrine construction, Safe Water Handling, Personal Hygiene, Food Safety and Solid Waste Management, Housing as well as insect and rodent control as major components to solve the problems in Ethiopia.
Mule Araya, Head of Hygiene and Sanitation Movement with the ministry said recent data showed a marked increase in the sanitation, but said due attention was needed on personal hygiene in line with achieving MDG goal target 10 over sanitation"Recent reports from regional health bureaus show sanitation coverage of the country has reached about 51% from 35 % in 2005," Mule said speaking at an event organized in connection with the World Water Day 2008, where the report was launched, "This, however, must be increased together with advancement of personal hygiene to solve the problem," he said adding, improving sanitation was key to maintaining good public health, a critical building block necessary for a country to advance toward self- sustaining development and economic well-being.Mule said the Health Extension Program along with the new movement called Millennium Hygiene and Sanitation Movement aims to increase the coverage further.He said 30, 000 health Extension Workers would be deployed at the beginning of next year covering about 80 % of the kebeles of the country to IYS plan of Action.
Mule spoke of a MoU he said was signed among the ministries and the Hygiene and Sanitation Protocol strategy, and financial need assessment He said the MoU will be instrumental in efforts to lower rates of sickness and child mortality in particular and better public health in general
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