31 March 2008
Nairobi — Outbreaks of cholera in Nyanza Province have put the spotlight on a problem that doesn't seem to get much Government attention - rural sanitation.
There have been more than 450 cases and 39 deaths reported since January, the beginning of the International Year of Sanitation. The epidemic began in Suba and Siaya districts, spread to Homa Bay and then the lake-side city of Kisumu. Another outbreak has been reported in Budalang'i constituency, Busia district.
Two factors mentioned by public health authorities as driving its spread were food preparation for large groups, such as funeral feasts, and improper disposal of human waste.
"Only about 30 per cent of residents have built pit latrines," one health official said. "People defecate in the bush."
This state of affairs is common in many parts of the country - indeed across Africa - where low-income earners cannot afford pit latrines. (For people who live on less than a dollar a day, a latrine that costs about a month's wages is a luxury.) While the long-term solutions include hygiene education, and improved access to water and sewerage services, in the short-term we should work on increasing the number of pit latrines in rural areas. Measures to subsidise the cost of building latrines, such as the provision of slabs, are commendable. However, only a large-scale total sanitation campaign will eradicate open defecation.
It is time someone did for the long-drop what others are doing for jigger infestation.
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